YELLOW BRICK ROAD-TRIP
by Spirit Burner AKA Chick Feed
Summary: Multi-chap fic. A message saying Help arrives. It can't be ignored, not when it's from Charlie. The brothers set out to rescue her, taking a road they've never travelled before, one made of bright yellow bricks. Survival in that not so Wonderful World of Oz isn't easy, with numerous challenges, experiences & dangers; like the Magenta Mage, Travellinn & those weirdo Munchkins!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer : Not for profit, not mine, real downer!  
Spoiler Alert :Episode link

_Welcome to Sam and Dean's_

**YELLOW BRICK ROAD-TRIP**

**Prologue**

-oOo-

It all began with the note. No one knew how long the note had been there, on the floor. The best anyone could figure was that it had been delivered at some point within the previous three weeks. That's how long it had been since anyone had any reason to pass that way. The paper that the message was written on was tissue thin, possibly once white, but now coloured various shades of brown. And when the note was, at last, spotted and retrieved from the dusty floor, there could be absolutely no doubt at all that the note was extremely important. The giveaway was in the first word which, in large, hurried looking, hand written lettering, simply read:

**_HELP!_**

**-oOo-**

**C1**

-oOo-

Whistling happily over the smell and sound of plump sausages sizzling in a pan, Dean Winchester, fearsome Hunter and sausage sizzler extraordinaire, didn't hear the hurried footfalls signalling the imminent arrival of his younger brother Sam Winchester, also fearsome(ish) Hunter and most _definite_ worry wart extraordinaire (according to Dean anyway). Entering the kitchen, Sam had to raise his voice above the sounds of breakfast being prepared in order to gain his brother's attention. When Dean glanced back over his shoulder towards his over-sized brother he was smiling. A smile that fell away when he saw, first, the angst on Sam's face and then a thin sheet of something rather like tissue paper clutched tightly in his hand. Dean turned back to gaze fondly at the sausages, silently making them promise to wait for him, as he turned the heat down under them in order to focus on whatever it was that had somehow managed to get Sam's boxer's in a knot _this_ time?

"Ok, I'll bite. What's got _you _so wound up Sammy?"

Sam waffed the delicate sheet of paper in Dean's general direction.

"It's a note. From Charlie and Dorothy. They need help. They're in a tight spot, and they need us to go get them out."

Without a word, Dean held out his hand for the note. Putting it down on the kitchen counter, Dean smoothed over the crinkles in the paper as best he could without tearing it, and began to read.

**HELP!  
**_We're in trouble. We're being held prisoner in the tower _  
_of the Magenta Mage (No really, that's what he's called) _  
_I know it was dumb to get caught but hey, even you two _  
_screw up sometimes! A brave little squirrel is carrying this _  
_note to you. If he has made it, please give him some nuts _  
_and then come get us. He'll show you the way. _  
_Your friend, Charlie xx_  
_P.S. Bring chocolate. xxx_

-o-

Dean turned to his waiting brother, his expression in neutral, his tone casual.

"You've read this?"

Sam nodded.

Dean scanned the note again, then returned to overseeing the sausages.

"You ok goin' to see if Squirrel Nutkin want's to join us for breakfast?"

"Um...Sure."

Sam hesitated, then thought better of saying anything else, such as How am I supposed to open the door? Dean seemed to need some time alone to think. Sam duly wandered out of the kitchen again and began making his way back to the door where they had once stood saying goodbye to Charlie as she left with Dorothy, now an adult, when the woman returned to whatever life she lived in the land of Oz.

-o-

Arriving at the end of the corridor, Sam's pace slowed to a standstill. Shoving both hands in the pockets of his jeans he gazed down at the fairly innocuous door. He hadn't got the vaguest idea how he was supposed to get it to open up into the Land of Oz, and he couldn't quite believe he was even having to worry about it. Yes, he'd waved goodbye to Charlie when she left, but even so..._Oz_? This _had_ to qualify as one of the most bizarre things he'd set out to do in all his long Hunting career so far. Although, he decided, playing Prince Evenmore Charming in the Trickster's pantomime probably ran a very close second.** With a sigh, Sam began to walk slowly down the hallway.

(****_Oh no. We're not? Oh yes you are_**_! Multi-chap in canon case fic.)_

-o-

As Sam got closer to the door, he heard a sound that was suspiciously like the snick of something being unlocked. He paused, staring at the door and waited, frowning when nothing else happened and sincerely wishing he'd thought to bring a dagger with him at the very least. Cautiously he began moving again, until he was finally standing uncertainly directly in front of the closed door. Holding his breath he listened carefully. Hearing nothing, his hand cautiously reached out to grasp the doorknob.

-o-

Dean plated the sausages and popped them in the oven to keep warm whilst he began to poke around inside various cupboards, hoping he could find something suitable to offer a small furry guest should they find themselves having one come for breakfast. He did feel a little concerned and uneasy about how matter of fact he realised he was acting towards the possibility of having to feed a squirrel. Did that signal that, for him, the abnormal had finally become normal and, if it had, what did that mean other people's normal everyday life was to him now? Feeling the beginnings of a headache, Dean tried to stop thinking, only to find himself thinking about not thinking, and his headache grew slightly worse.

"Dammit Charlie! You're gonna be the reason I go grey!"

The sound of running footsteps growing louder as the runner got nearer had Dean heading out of the kitchen doorway, and immediately throwing himself against the nearest wall to avoid the rat that was racing straight for him _No, squirrel, not rat. Jeeze!_ Dean stayed flattened up against the wall as, feet pounding, Sam ran past and on into the kitchen where, already there was the sound of a plate shattering as it hit the floor.

"_I got it_!"

-o-

"_No_! Don't go in there! _Come out_ you little..! Watch it, _watch it_.._Crap_. Get _down_ here..._Ha,_ _now _I've..._buggerit..._No, no, that's...Oh well, that'll teach you _Oi! Gerroff!_ No nuts for _you_ my friend if you don't..._Stop that_! _Crap_, crappity crap..._Dean?..._Comeback down here_ now_! Oh...Well, that's just _awesome_! Oh...Ok...You _like_ that do you? Good. Stop that, I'm getting you some...Right, are you goin' to behave now, Stinky?.._._And the same to you I'm sure..._Here_. Try eatin' out of a freakin' bowl and _stop_ behaving like an animal...Oh Hell...Look at the freakin' _mess_ you made!...Dean?...Dean? Youstill there?...Dean...?"

Sam's voice grew quieter the further away Dean took himself from the kitchen. It wasn't very long since he had been whistling happily over the sound of plump sausages sizzling in a pan. Now Dean Winchester was trying to figure out exactly why life so frequently decided to take the piss out of him? And why, when the Gods were bored, did they all decide to amuse themselves with _him_ every time? And even more importantly, why hadn't he thought to bring coffee and a sausage with him? Dean quietly shut the door to his room and stood massaging his temple. _I'm sooo gonna thank you for this Charlie, I swear!_

-o-

A quiet knock on the door sounded whilst Dean was sat on his bed oiling a keen edged, not one for the tourists, eighteenth century Samurai sword, made and signed by one of the master swordsmiths, that Dean had gifted into his own care not long after moving into the bunker.

"If you're on your own Sam, come in."

Sam pushed open the door and Dean straight away glared at the floor area around Sam's feet.

"I hope Nutkin's still in the kitchen? This room's strictly off limits to all furry tailed rats, ok?."

Sam smiled.

"Ok. He's back in the kitchen having cereal. Not sure how much of an appetite squirrels have normally, but Brad sure was hungry. I brought you coffee and a sandwich."

Dean paused in his task.

"Brad?"

Sam shrugged.

"I thought he should have a name so I started at _A_ and threw some at him, when I got to _B_, he seemed to like Brad."

Dean stared at his brother.

"Sammy. Look, I know you've always wanted a pet but, you do know you can't keep it, don't you?"

"Eat your sandwich. I'm not planning on keeping him. Dean, we're about to go to Oz. He's our squirrelly sat nav to the girls. If he wanders off I just thought we should be able to call him back. We stand in the middle of_ that_ place just yelling _squirrel_, who knows _what_ could happen? You've seen the movie, I remember you watching it with me."

Dean shook his head.

"Dude, I think I saw the chick with the mop head style dog trillin' on about rainbows an' blue birds. Slept through everthin' else though...So, breakfast, pack and go?"

"I guess. I'd better get back to Brad, see what he's up to."

"You do that. Um, Sam? When this' over? We ever spend time with any other Hunters, _The time I Went to Oz_ is _not_ somethin' to share, right? I'd like us to keep what small amount of respect we've still got left amongst the rest of 'em. Agreed?"

Sam laughed. Dean got the distinct impression that his brother was looking forward to this.

"Agreed."

**-oOo-**

_A.N. Those who know my stuff also know that I post new chaps quickly. However, this fic won't be a daily post as I'm also co-authoring another multi chap case fic with the wonderful and awesomely brave (for putting up with me) _**ncsupnatfan**_at the same time (whilst also stuck having to go to work & stuff). The joint fic is entitled "__**FREAKIN' FRIDAY**__" being posted by ncsupnatfan. Drop by and join us if you can :) Chick xxx_


	2. Chapter 2

**C2**

-oOo-

The two Hunters were standing in a hallway and facing the door which could lead them into Oz. Both had rucksacks strapped to their back, but on top of Sam's sat Brad, busily inspecting Sam's hair for any tasty bugs. Refusing to acknowledge that there was anything odd going on at the back of his brother's head, Dean looked at Sam expectantly.

"So, how did you get the door to open up earlier?"

"I just reached for the handle, and then it sorta opened itself, like this."

As he spoke, Sam repeated his earlier action and, like before, he hadn't yet grasped the handle, when the door slowly opened outward. Brad began an excited chittering as the brothers stood side by side, gazing out over the land of Oz.

-o-

The view was breathtaking, if you like that kind of thing. All blue skies, gently rolling green hills, valley forests that looked lush and welcoming, here and there the sun shimmered on the surface of water, farmer's fields were full of crops in bloom creating patches of sunshine yellows, brilliant blues and scarlet reds, part of a gently flowing river could be seen as it wound it's way through meadows splashed with every colour of wild flower. And the birds. The air was full of birdsong, flocks of acrobatic tiny blue birds, flashes of bright purple birds in pairs, a flock of pure white doves took off from a field. Curls of smoke spoke of pretty little clusters of cottages and, quite bizarrely given the total lack of rain, one vast, beautiful and perfect rainbow's arch. Everywhere the colours were so intense, they gave a kind of cartoon-like appearance to everything. Dean curled his lip at it all, and wished he'd packed his sunglasses. He just _knew_ all this bright light and colour was going to give him migraine, unless all the overdone prettiness of the place made him puke first. He didn't need to look at his brother to know that Sam was grinning like a kid in a sweet shop where everything was free.

"Dean, look!"

Following the finger that Sam was pointing to the ground, Dean stared down at the bright yellow bricked road leading from the bunker doorway and away into Oz. He groaned, and gave the jolly little path a good old Winchester patented death glare.

"_Please_ Sam. Please tell me...You're _not_ expecting me to _skip_?"

-o-

Brad leapt off from Sam's rucksack and, tiny feet hardly seeming to touch the ground, he delicately bounced along the path a ways before sitting down and starting to rapid fire chitter at the Hunters. Laughing, Sam stepped onto the yellow brick road and walked to where the little squirrel sat. Dean hiked one eyebrow as he watched his younger brother set off. Sam's laughter was light hearted, genuine, almost, though Dean hated to use the word in relation to his six five brick outhouse of a baby brother, _giddy_!

-o-

Dean was hard pressed to remember any time, even in the past _year_, that he had heard Sam laughing anything like so freely and genuinely. And his brother's walk...Even _that_ was noticeably different. There was no determined stride into the fight ready to kill or die. No anger driven stomp that said _Lets get this over with so I can get away_ _from you_. No cautious, totally silent, stealthy creep designed to catch some fugly or other unawares. No slow dragging of sulky, recaltriscent feet. No...There was none of that. Instead Sam's walk was eager, bouncing, quick and light. _Hell,_ Dean thought, _Sam Winchester__** was**__ damn near skipping!_ Dean gave the panoramic landscape laid out in front of him another quick glance, this time with a small smile on his lips - _Maybe this place is going to be good for_ _Sammy?_ - Dean decided that he was willing to like it more, just because of the effect being here seemed to be having on his brother. Sammy needed this, and so Dean stopped caring about how the place looked and sounded to himself. Simply seeing Sam excited and cheerful sent the ghastly over colourful Oz straight into the top slot of Dean's internalised list of _My Favourite Hunts_.

-o-

Strangely, seeing Sam looking so much lighter made Dean himself feel lighter in response. He gazed at the multi-coloured arch that glowed against the endless blue sky. Who knows? Maybe rainbows really _did _have a pot of gold at each end? And right now, seeing the Sam that Dean had almost forgotten had once been the norm, Dean truly felt like he had already found_ his_ gold.

-o-

Setting foot onto the yellow bricks, Dean grinned as he jogged, _not _skipped - _Never_ - towards his eagerly waiting brother and Brad, not complaining even when Sam threw a heavy arm across his shoulders as they set off, with Brad confidently taking the lead.

**-oOo-**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Huge _**_cuddle to everyone who reviewed, you're the best!_

**C3**

-oOo-

The day was starting to get warmer as the Hunters walked the yellow brick road. Dean had already taken his jacket off and stuffed it in his rucksack's outer pocket, now he was seriously considering removing his over shirt. Sam didn't seem to be so bothered by the heat, he was far too busy taking in his surroundings, pointing excitedly and expecting Dean to join him in his amazement whenever yet _another_ brightly coloured bird flew by. He chatted happily at Dean about the things he recalled from watching the movie when he was young and, to Dean's dismay, stopped frequently to smell the flowers. The first time Sam suddenly dived off the path, dropped to his knees on the emerald green grass and bent over, Dean thought Sam was up-chucking and had gone after his brother in concern. Seeing Sam with his nose happily stuffed into a clump of miniscule tangerine and scarlet flowers, sniffing their scent in awe, had Dean staring at Sam as though he was completely off his head. When Sam tried to persuade Dean to kneel down and have a sniff, Dean decided his brother had fallen victim to an evil spell. When Sam was finally able to convince Dean that he was acting of his own volition, following his argument up by sticking one of the tiny flowers right under his brother's left nostril, Dean refused to talk to him for a while, or even _walk_ anywhere near him out of sheer embarrassment.

-o-

Passing a field full of jersey cows, the cows spotted the pair and, as one, they raced down the field and up to the dry stone wall of their field which edged the yellow brick road. Lining themselves up, they each stuck their heads over the wall to watch Sam and Dean pass, each cow in turn giving the brothers a cheerful _Moooo._ Sam thought it was hilarious, Dean thought about returning to the bunker. In a distant field, a farmer stood whistling instructions to his sheep dog, and Sam insisted in stopping to watch the dog round the sheep up and direct them, seemingly pointlessly, into a pen. Dean wondered if Oz was dry? He wasn't sure he could cope with flower sniffing, sheep herding, bird watching Sam without access to alcohol. He cast his mind back, dragging up what limited memory he had of the film, trying to recall whether any of those weirdo Munchkinny things were ever shown turning up drunk and proceeding to become way too handsy with the pigtailed movie Dorothy? Dean was almost _certain_ there was one of them, at least, who got pulled over by the yellow brick road highway cops when he was driving home from the chocolate factory. Dean recalled the Umpakin was promptly charged with drunken singing and dancing..._Or_ had he already fallen asleep by that point and his memory was currently mixing up his dream and the movie?

"...ear wax out? ... _Dean!_"

-o-

At last Dean lifted his head sharply in answer to his name and a relieved Sam saw that he had, at last, managed to break through the daydream fugue that his older brother had been immersed in.

"Yes...Um, no...Um, er...Whatever's the right answer to whatever it is you asked. Something 'bout car wax?"

Standing in front of Dean, Sam watched his brother carefully, noticing how long it seemed to take Dean's eyes to finally stop drifting and focus directly on Sam's worried expression.

"How're you feeling Dean?"

"Thirsty. How about you?"

The yellow bricks had been following the contours around the base of a steeply rising grassy hill. From up ahead and out of sight around the next curve in the path, drifted the sound of laughter and a hearty voice calling out _Cheers lads. You'll not find a better pint in the whole of Oz. Drink it down my friends. The next one's are on me, we've got a heckova lot of celebrating to do!"_

The Hunters turned their heads in the direction the sounds were coming from. Suspicion clouding his features, Dean glanced at Sam.

"That's worryingly convenient."

-o-

Neither Hunter wanted to attract trouble if they could help it, so whilst Sam hid a short dagger under his jacket, Dean slipped a folding knife down the side of his boot and a brass knuckle duster in the front pocket of his jeans. Bar room brawls tended to be fought at way to close quarters to start waving a sword around. Their guns stayed hidden within their rucksacks. Dean gave Sam a nod to show he was ready, and set off. Sam's hand grabbing his arm forced Dean to stop. Sam was carefully scanning their immediate area.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't see Brad, do you?"

Dean patted his brother's shoulder.

"Now, now. Your little pest...Sorry, _pet_...will be fine. Unless that is, he doesn't come back to lead us to Charlie. Then, I'm sorry to have to tell you this Sammy but...He _will_ be turned into a pair of glovesif I see him again! Just so's you know. C'mon, let's go get pally with the locals, ok?"

Sam was distracted and still sounded worried about Brad.

"Yeah...Ok."

-o-

"Now, Sam? Remember to give everyone a big smile. Just a couple of wanderer's stopping by for a drink or two."

"You really think it's worth the act? We're both thinking maybe this place wasn't here till we got close."

Dean's pointed glare and his light tone of voice were completely at odds with each other.

"Of _course_ it was here, don't be ridiculous Sammy! You been sniffing waaaay too many flowers! C'mon, it sounds like a real friendly kind of place."

Taking the lead, Dean confidently and with a smile, strolled around the bend in the yellow brick road.

"Well, looky here my friends! I'm guessing from the odd manner of his clothes, we got ourselves a visitor from another land, and a man who looks like he knows how to acquit himself! Hail friend and welcome, if it's a fine pint you're after."

Sam rounded the bend in time to see Dean giving the speaker a surprisingly graceful bow. Sam instantly followed Dean's lead, all-be-it a little clumsier and stiffer.

"Well goodness-mary-me! 'Tis a young giant he has for a companion! Welcome my tall young friend. See that you lower your head as you enter yon establishment won't you?"

The portly, flame haired and bearded man who was quite clearly playing up for the benefit of his drinking buddies, was the owner of the voice they heard whilst they were still out of sight. Dean gave the guy an easy smile whilst visually assessing any potential threat the man might be. His glance took in the broadsword hanging at the man's side and Dean guessed his fellow drinkers were similarly armed. All the group were dressed alike, in hand woven cloths and leather. Dean couldn't help but class the style as Disney Robin Hood. He fixed his gaze on red beard.

"Thanks for the advice friend. Don't let us disturb your business."

The Hunters strolled past, heading towards the two story wooden tavern, both very aware that they were being carefully observed, and weighed up, by red beard and company. Sam and Dean were about to enter the building when one of red beard's pals shouted out.

"That's a fine sword you're carrying green eyes. Unusual."

Dean glanced back over his shoulder. A tall, slender man with dark hair styled like an upturned bowl on his head identified himself as the speaker with a wave of his hand. Dean gave him a polite nod.

"Thank you. It is."

Dean turned away, the change so imperceptible, only Sam noticed his brother was walking a little stiffer, a little faster.

"Dean? What is it?"

"How often do men call_ you_ by the colour of your eyes Sammy?"

Sam sniggered supportively.

-o-

Walking into the cool interior of the tavern, the brother's stopped briefly to allow their eyes to adjust to the comparative darkness compared to the cartoon brilliance outside. Without looking at Dean, Sam muttered.

"You think that lot's trouble?"

Dean grinned broadly.

"Ohhh, I certainly hope so!"

"Afternoon sirs, 'av a seat. What's your pleasure me dearies?"

Giving the smiling mop capped, crinolined and frilly aproned barmaid a gritted teeth grin, Dean murmured so low that only Sam could hear.

"If she starts singin', _especially_ if it's' anythin' that's got _oom's _an' _pappa's _in it, we run. Right?"

Duly sitting themselves at the small circular wooden table the barmaid waved them towards, Sam glanced at the tavern bar. He noticed three hand pull beer taps, but couldn't see any other signs of alcohol. He turned back to mopcap.

"Hi, erm, what kind of drinks do you serve here?"

Mopcap's smile grew wider.

"Oooh sirs...You're a lucky pair of gents you are! T'old Travellinn's got 'ere on a good week so it 'as. That 'un there on this side, that's Old Speckled Hen. T'other one, in the middle, that's Frisky Spotted Cow. And the one right at t'other end? That there's me personality favourite an' I like's it best of all. That's called Snoozey Dotted Dormouse. Ev'ry one of 'em _damn_ good beers. Take your pick, you'll not 'ave no disappointums."

"Don't you serve anything besides those beers?"

Mopcap's smile faltered and she stared at Sam anxiously.

"Erm...I s'pose there's water, if that sorta thing's more to your taste sir? You'd be a gettin' that from t'well. Is that what you'd be meanin' kind sir?"

Dean gave a short laugh.

"Please!_ Ignore_ my brother, he's just messing with you gorgeous. He'll have a Spotted Cow, and for me? The Speckled Hen."

Mopcap hesitated momentarily, looking between the brothers, then she threw back her head and exploded into loud whinnying, snorting laughter.

"Why me darlin'! You very nearly 'ad me fooled there so you did! Tis a scoundrel...A scoundrel _and_ a scallywag that you be Sir, make _no_ mistake! I c'n tell I'll 'ave to watch mesel' with you dearie. You're way to slippery for the like's o' poor vun'rable an' all alone little me you are. Why, I'll wager you could sweet talk a lassie like me into most _anythin_'! Be I right you naughty man? Be I? I's right, ain't I? I c'n tell."

Still snorting and laughing, the barmaid wandered off to get the drinks as Dean leaned over and gently banged his forehead on the table top three or four times.

" If she's set to carry on like that, I'm gonna want to stuff her own mop cap down her throat in a very short space of time! I'm headin' back outside, see if I can get anythin' from talkin' to Red Beard and his gang. You stay here if you want, the two of you could plan your weddin'. Be I right?"

-o-

Dean headed for an empty table, knowing he wouldn't be sat there for very long. Outdoors, the tables were simply made from thick planks of rough wood with a very basic long bench seat at either side. Having acknowledged the open stares of Red Beard and company, he entertained himself reading the various bits of graffiti scored into the table's surface. Even in Oz, some people liked to leave their mark. Sam _finally_ appeared from inside the tavern looking slightly flushed. Dean hiked an eyebrow at the two large leather tankards his brother carried. Both appeared to have dingy coloured foam slopping haphazardly over their rim. Sam carefully put one of the tankards down in front of Dean, who gazed at it's foam contents in consternation.

"You took your time. What were you gettin' up to in there?"

"I made the mistake of asking the barmaid about the tavern's name."

Dean glanced up at Sam.

"The Traveller's Inn?"

Sam shook his head.

"That's not what she said. She actually called it the _Travellinn_, it got me curious. Guess what? Seems this place _does_ suddenly just appear after all! Best I could make out, it hovers around unseen until it senses a group of thirsty folks and, _poof_! There it is!"

Dean gazed in obvious desire at the tavern building.

"Sammy...You think we could persuade it to come home with us?"

"The barmaid would probably have to come along too."

Dean curled one side of his top lip up.

"In that case, forget it."

Dean gazed down into his leather tankard. There was still nothing to see except the foam.

"Dude. Where's my beer?"

"Under that lot apparently."

Lifting his tankard, Dean eyed the thick foam suspiciously, then took a deep breath and blew on it.

_"_Son of a_...Dean, _you _idiot_!_"_

"Oops?"

-o-

Foamy globules dripped off Sam's hair and forehead, plopping onto the table as raucous laughter erupted from Red Beard and co. Sam wiped a hand over the dribbles remaining on his face whilst scowling at his brother.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Did not!"

"_Did so_!"

"Gentlemen! If I might interrupt your debate?"

A damp and grumpy looking Sam, and Dean, turned to look across at a grinning Red Beard.

"Come and join us why don't you? You seem like two entertaining young fellows. Boys? Volunteers to drag the bench over for our fine new friends."

**-oOo-**


	4. Chapter 4

Again, thank you so much for your kind comments. I promise I **_will _**be replying to everybody individually, but for those signed in as Guest,

allow me to say a special thank you to you here. Also, you know they've got to come into it sometime, so can I point out now that, never having seen the movie, I've had to create my own version of Munchkins...(Munchki?)

**C4**

-oOo-

_Always be aware of the people around you. Until you know different, assume that they're a threat and never drop your guard. J. Winchester_

"Allow me to do the introductions. Jonathan Crouch, Squire around these parts and my, um, rent collectors. The tall skinny chap who so admired your sword is Ethan, fancies _himself_ as a bit of a swordsman he does. The kid over there is Matthew. Don't let his youthful looks fool you, he'll rob you blind in a game of cards. Old Henry there, finest scout there is round here, maybe in the whole of Oz, and the chap next to him is William, _superb_ horseman. Lastly, the mealy mouthed, haughty looking one here is Merrick. Now, how may we address the both of _you _my friends?"

Once the introductions were complete, Sam and Dean found themselves being the centre of attention, fielding questions from Crouch and the others, all except Merrick that is, who seemed content just to watch the two Hunters. In Dean's eyes that marked the man as the greatest potential threat, it hadn't gone un-noticed by either brother that Crouch had designated no attribute against Merrick's name. Dean raised his tankard to Merrick in silent salute, an understanding passing between the Hunter and the quiet man who gave Dean a single nod of his head. Now they knew each other. Merrick was a killer, Dean guessed the man probably killed to order. Crouch's own personal assassin. Crouch's rent overseers certainly had an interesting skills mix.

-o-

Dean took a tentative sip at the promised liquid hidden beneath the foam surface of his beer. At first, both Dean's eyebrows arched, closely followed by his face imploding and a whole body shudder, much to the merriment of his audience who hooted and clapped in response to the twisted grimace on the Hunter's face, as he quickly put his tankard back on the table and pushed it away.

"_Gharrgh_! What the Hell _is_ that stuff? It's _vile_!"

-o-

Sat near to Sam, Matthew gave him a nudge.

"Go on...Your turn."

"Sam, I'm tellin' you dude. Take it from me, that stuff's just gross."

The men went silent as Sam tentatively picked up his own tankard and put it to his lips. Dean stared in disbelief at his brother, watching whilst Sam first took a small sip, then greedily tipped the tankard and chugged every drop, slamming the empty vessel back down on the table and gazing happily around at everyone from behind his foam moustache. All except Dean cheered and Sam grabbed Dean's abandoned drink, taking it for himself. Still looking amazed, Dean shook his head.

"_Seriously_?"

-o-

Despite Dean's glares, Sam was contentedly slurping his way down his third tankard of the dark, nutty ale. Dean needed to get his brother away from there whilst he could still, hopefully, walk unaided.

"So, guys...Can anyone tell us where me and my brother might find the Magenta Mage?"

Like someone had flicked a switch, the light hearted chatter seized, and all Crouch's pals looked towards the Squire. All except Merrick, who's steady gaze was firmly fixed on Dean. Coming up for air, Sam glanced innocently around at everyone.

"Whassup?"

-o-

Crouch's expression was serious as he focused his attention on to Dean.

"Now why might you two fellahs want to know where to find that old wizard? What business have you got with him young Dean? I'm keen to know."

The atmosphere had taken on a definite chill, a fact that somehow bypassed Sam.

"No but, _really_...Whassup?"

Dean didn't take his eyes off of Crouch and his voice came out almost like a growl.

"Sam..._Shut it_."

Sam's eyes grew rounder, the realisation that all might not be well finally dawning.

"Oh...Ok. Shhhhhh."

There wasn't a flicker on the outside, but internally Dean groaned and cursed. Sam was drunk. That meant serious trouble if things got physical. The odds were six on one. Dean knew he couldn't take on all six and succeed in keeping Sam out of harms way at the same time. He also recognised the chances of them being able to make a run for it were more than slim, he'd be lucky if Sam could manage a slow sway. He saw a flick of the Squire's eyes, and Dean's heart sank - _Dammit!_

-o-

"_Gerroff_! Dean?"

"It's ok Sammy, everythin's ok."

With both arms being held firmly by William who was now standing behind him, Sam couldn't work out why things had changed, but the tone in Dean's voice warned him to not try arguing. Sam grew still and quiet, trusting in Dean to make everything right again. Sam hoped that would include stopping whatever was making him feel so fuzzy and thick headed. He frowned when he heard Crouch agreeing with Dean.

"That's right young Sammy me lad, everything is ok. You and your brother here are coming home with us for dinner. Isn't that right Dean?"

Dean's glare turned cold, shooting an unspoken promise at Crouch.

"Yes...That's right."

"Ethan, Henry, bring the horses around...Merrick? If you'd be so kind."

Able to do little else, Dean pointedly maintained his icy stare on Crouch until Merrick struck, stepping back again as Dean slumped silently to the ground.

-o-

Sam saw his brother fall and he instantly began yelling and struggling against William's hold, managing to break one arm free to deliver an uncoordinated punch in the vague vicinity of William's head before Merrick and Matthew, carrying rope, came to the man's aid. Mopcap ran out of the tavern, took one look at the situation, and ran back inside again, slamming the heavy wooden door closed behind her. From around the back of the tavern appeared Ethan and Henry, leading six horses. Crouch walked for ward and took the reigns of a pure white mare, rubbing her nose affectionately.

"Henry, we'll be needing one more for the drunk. Take one of the tavern owner's, I'll be certain to make it right with him. Try to make sure it's as docile a nag as you can, there's a good chap. William, you'll rope his horse to your saddle and make sure he doesn't try anything stupid. Ethan, you'll be carrying the other one with you across your horse. If he starts to come around, keep him quiet again if you need to. I'll be taking point, Merrick, I want you taking the rear. C'mon me lads, _snap too_!"

-oOo-


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry it's took a while to post. :( Will make it up by posting another chap later today. :)_

**C5**

-oOo-

Somebody somewhere nearby was using a pneumatic drill and Dean wasn't happy about having had his sleep disturbed by it. He rolled over making a low grumbling noise without moving his lips, followed by a yelp and a quick recoil of his head when something sharp and brittle was jabbed up his nose and at the same time, something very similar poked into an ear. His eyes snapped open, only to be screwed closed again by a startling staccato of sneezes activated by the dust his movement disturbed.

"M'numm nunn ffluf."

Dean assumed his brother's response would've come out as _Bless You,_ had Sam been awake. Dean stared down at the straw he was lying on which had been responsible for the facial assault, and then the pneumatic drill set off again. Dean turned his head and watched Sam in fascination for a while; he'd never heard his brother snore with so much gusto before.

Sam was on his back, legs and arms akimbo, his mouth gaping open, strands of straw threaded through and clinging onto his hair. He wasn't looking at his best, and he sounded even worse. Dean figured that being three sheets to the wind after downing three large tankards of ale in fairly quick succession was largely responsible for turning Sam into some sort of daemon snorer. He decided he was going to have to protect his brother from the evils of ale in future. Shuffling around, Dean sat himself up and took stock of their current situation.

-o-

It was clear that they were both being held in the confines of a relatively stereotypical cell space. Around twelve by twelve, the floor, ceiling and three walls were built from grey hunks of dressed stone. The forth side of the cell consisted of floor to ceiling, heavy duty, thick metal bars, set into which was the only apparent door; basically a thick metal frame, again fitted with the heavy duty bars, and one outsize metal lock. Beyond the bars was a narrow passageway, stone walled and, like the floor of their prison, straw covered the floor. One lonely fat beeswax candle sat in a sconce affixed to the passage wall opposite their cell was the only light. Aside, Dean suddenly realised, from the faint light coming from floor level at the back of the cell, right in one corner. He took the time to listen as best he could over the noise of the human drill, trying to hear any other sounds coming from the passage which would tell him that they were not alone. He glared across at his brother, battling the urge to reach over and use two knuckles to clamp Sam's nostrils closed. Instead, he decided he might as well make use of the earth shaking racket to cover the sounds of his own movements. The act of standing up set off a series of dull, throbbing pains at the back of his head. As he suspected, when he ran a hand over the area he found the lump caused when Merrick had knocked him cold. He was going to have to speak to that guy. Ignoring the discomfort, Dean moved to check out the source of the light at the back of their confinement area.

-o-

Dean stared down at the triangular hole in the corner of the stone floor. Each of it's three sides were roughly nine inches long, meaning that neither he nor Sam was going to be able to squeeze themselves through it and, even if they could? Squatting, Dean stared through the hole and down to the ground. The ground that was at least forty foot below him. He found himself staring down on to the backs of three small shocking pink birds whilst they flew past. Below them he was looking at a ribbon of sunflower yellow path curving through open grass before disappearing into what, from Dean view point, was the tops of trees. Now and then a splash of yellow showed through the foliage. His gaze returned to the open grass. Little brown dots were moving around at the edge of a body of contained water. Dean recognised them as a group of wild rabbits that were feeding on the lush grass surrounding the small lake. Looking immediately down, Dean could see dark, brackish and uninviting looking water that appeared to be a section of moat. Between that and the open grassland was the top of a thick boundary wall, Dean guessed it was the outer wall surrounding wherever he and Sam were being held. Overall, the view was very pretty and, Dean thought, maybe not without some potential.

-o-

Dean gazed at the oh so appealing sight of his brother, still spread eagle on the floor, his mouth hung wide open like a tunnel awaiting a train. He tried a couple of hopeful whispers, quickly moving onto an intense whisper with an additional underlying hiss. Nothing. Using the toe of his boot, he gave Sam a firm shove in the ribs.

"Freakin' Sleepin' Beauty, wake up will you? ... Sammy!"

There was still no response and Dean dropped his own head, closing his eyes in frustration.

"Umnerrphuff?"

Dean quickly gave his brother a firmer prod.

"C'mon. Open your eyes dude. We've got a situation!"

-o-

"Do'n care. Wann shleep."

Dean battled to keep the impatience out of his voice.

"Well tough. Nap time's over. Get with it!"

Sam stubbornly kept his eyes closed.

"M'head hurts n' m'back n' m'eyeballs n' m' hair."

"Really? Tell me, what's the last thing you remember?"

"Um...um...Oh! _I _know...I like ale!"

"Oh yeah. You _really_ like it. You liked it too much in fact! Now pull it together and open your eyes. Charlie needs us."

Dean emphasised his words with another prod of his foot. Sam at last peered up at him.

"H'llo. Stop kickin' me. Where are we?"

"Well, it ain't the Hilton. How would I know? I slept through the journey. I was kinda hoping you'd tell _me_. Wherever we are, it's not got an open door policy."

Sam's gaze switched to the ceiling and then to the wall of metal bars.

"Dungeon?"

"Not quite. More penthouse. Are you just gonna stay lying there?"

"Um, hang on."

Sam seemed to be taking the time to figure out where his legs and arms were in relation to the rest of him. Once he got that sorted, he finally gathered various limbs in and forced himself over onto his hands and knees, where he hesitated again.

"Sam?"

"S'ok...Jussa little room spin s'all...Gimme a hand?"

"_Unbelievable_!"

"Dean? Shhhh...My head, dude."

-o-

Sam shuffled backwards on his knees, away from the hole in the floor. Staring at the ground below hadn't done his delicate stomach any favours and he held out an arm to Dean, flapping his hand to signal for help again. Once upright, it only took a couple of seconds this time for his head to stop feeling as if it was swaying like a Mr Bobblehead, instead of the couple of minutes it had taken when he first stood up after waking. He _really_ needed fluids. Wandering to the front of their cell he gripped a bar in each hand before leaning his forehead against the cool metal of a third.

"No sounds of life or anyone comin' to check on us then?"

Dean had sat himself on the floor, back against the wall and his knees drawn up, next to their strange window on the world where he could keep an eye on any comings and goings.

"Not since I came round. I guess room service is a little shoddy in this place. Nothin' we can do except wait ... Wonder where they hid the mini-bar?"

Sam's stomach lurched.

"Nooo! No more alcohol..._Ever_!"

**-oOo-**


	6. Chapter 6

_As promised, second post of the day.  
_**C6**

-oOo-

A couple of hours passed, during which time Sam's headache hit migraine levels. He was once again stretched out on the straw covered floor, one forearm thrown over his eyes, an occasional quiet moan the only indication he wasn't asleep. Dean watched with growing concern as his brother licked at dry lips. Sam really needed access to fluids, he was almost completely de-hydrated, and that wasn't good at all. With a huff of frustration, Dean leapt to his feet and strode determinedly to up to the bars, throwing Sam a warning.

"Cover your ears. I'm gonna be makin' some noise over here."

Sam groaned and rolled onto his side with his back to Dean. He covered both ears with his hands and readied himself as best he could, knowing it wasn't likely to be anywhere near enough.

"K."

-o-

Dean took the belt off his jeans and began hammering on the metal lock plate with the buckle, shouting and yelling at the same time, making as much noise as he could. Every smack of metal on metal hammered through Sam's head with a physical sensation, his headache pounding and throbbing in time. He decided it was a good thing he didn't have his gun, otherwise he might seriously have been tempted to shoot his brother, just to make the unbearable noise stop! ... Sam's eyes snapped open. Holding his breath he reached around his back with one hand and checked the waistband of his jeans. He could have wept tears of relief. The Taurus was still there, nestling against his back as always. The discomfort he'd been feeling in his back hadn't just been the result of lying on a stone floor. Now that he had the Taurus, it was time to end this torture. Retrieving the gun, Sam moved onto his back. Still making enough noise to wake the dead, Dean never heard Sam move, or the click made by the safety being taken off. Sam's hand shook as he took aim. Ignoring it, he squeezed the trigger and fired off one shot.

"_SonovafreakinbitchshittinfreakinGoddamnarsinjerkovfuck_!"

-o-

Dean carefully raised his head from where he laid, having thrown himself flat to the floor the instant he heard the gun go off. He looked at the passage wall opposite their cell, seeing the damage done to the hunk of stone that the bullet had hit. The hunk of stone that was halfway up the wall but, more importantly, only a couple of slabs to his right. Dean swallowed hard and made his way up onto his knees, still staring at the fatally wounded rectangle of stone. Rising a little unsteadily to his feet, he turned to face Sam. His brother, looking unhealthily pale and still lying on his back, grinned and waved the Taurus happily at Dean.

"Did I kill the wall dead?"

"_Jeeze _Sammy! A warnin' would've been good, you know? I damn near _shit_ my pants for Chrissake!"

Sam's grin grew wider despite the pain of his headache.

"You think anyone heard it?"

Even as Sam spoke, Dean became aware of the sound of running footsteps.

"I'm thinkin' that's a definite _yes_."

Dean moved quickly to Sam's side and sat himself down on the floor alongside his brother.

"Pass me the gun."

-o-

There was the sound of a key turning in a lock from further down the passage, followed by a door scraping open. Two male voices could clearly be heard.

"I dunno. I already told you. Boss just said to get someone and find out what these strangers were up to."

"Fine, but why'd you have to go an' choose me?"

"Cos you pissed me off earlier."

A flickering yellow glow moved closer to Sam and Dean's cell. Finally, two men, one carrying a burning torch, came into view. Dean smiled grimly.

"Well. Hello Ethan, Matthew. Nice of you to visit, we were beginnin' to feel all neglected. Now, which one of you good chaps has the key to this door?"

Ethan glared into the cell at Dean.

"That's got nothin' to do with you. What was the all the noise comin' from in here?

Before Dean could answer, Matthew gave his companion a nudge.

"Ethan. Look there. Was that there earlier? I don't remember it."

Turning away from Dean, Ethan's eyes followed the direction of Matthew's pointing finger, and saw the blast damage that had been done to a part of the wall. Taking the blazing torch from Matthew, Ethan went to the stone slab and stared at it. Finally turning to fix his gaze on the Hunters again.

"In the name of the Dark One, how did you come to do that? Are you a spell caster? Has the White Wizard sent you? Answer me!"

Dean stood up and strode up to the cell bars, placing himself directly opposite Ethan. He looked the man up and down, his expression one that suggested Dean was inspecting a pile of sheep dung, his eyes cold, disquieting.

"I am not in the habit of answering to servants. You, _boy_, go warn Crouch me and my brother are coming to..._speak_...with him. Tell him we expect to find food and water waiting for us."

Dean had not taken his eyes off Ethan as he ordered Matthew to leave but he could feel the youth's uncertainty and knew Matthew would be looking to Ethan to see what he should do. Dean spoke before Ethan could negate his instructions.

"Do it now, or your pal Ethan here will suffer for your disobedience. You've seen the damage I've caused to solid stone. Just imagine, if you can, what the effect might be on soft flesh and bone."

Hearing Dean's threat, Ethan showed a flash of uncertainty in his eyes. Dean gave the man a slow, predatory smile. His mind suddenly made up, Ethan began to fumble with a bunch of keys hanging from his belt.

"Go on Matthew. Do as the man says. Back downstairs _now, _fast as you can my lad!"

**-oOo-**


	7. Chapter 7

_Back again :)  
_**C7**

-oOo-

The two brothers and Ethan made their way past two more cells before exiting the straw covered passage via a heavy door constructed of wood and metal. Ethan had been instructed to help Sam whilst Dean walked behind them, his strange and alien looking "magic wand", (named as such by Dean), in his hand as a warning for Ethan to behave. They crossed through a room that was basic in it's furnishings and Dean recognised it as a guard's room, there being something about those areas that all managed to have the same look of neglect wherever they might be. Obviously, this one was missing the pile of porn mags and the less than clean microwave with the usual eclectic selection of half heartedly washed mugs at it's side. The guard's room led them out onto the top of a flight of stone steps spiralling down, with the narrowest part of the steps, as always, on the left of their descent. Here, Dean took the lead, not prepared to give Ethan the opportunity to get ahead of them and make use of the spiralling format to get out of sight from them. The steps were too narrow for two walking side by side, so Ethan came next and Sam last.

-o-

For the vast majority of the descent, Sam came down virtually sideways, supporting himself by keeping his back up to the wall. Following the spiral did very little for his still delicate constitution, re-engaging him with his inner Sammy Bobble Head. Even when they reached the bottom of the spiral staircase and found themselves out in a wide lobby type area, for a while Sam's head and stomach still reacted as though he was circling down the tower steps. Dean was instantly at his side and supporting him as they followed Ethan to the furthest wooden door, outside of which stood two guards, each eyeing Sam and Dean angrily and each armed with a weapon not too dissimilar to a halberd. Dean gave the pair a cheery smile.

"You're doin' a good job there fellahs, loving the big sticks. Nice shiny head on them."

One of the guards knocked on the closed door, opening it when Crouch shouted "Let them in."

-o-

Crouch was standing with his back to the Hunters staring into the depths of a blazing fire set within an ornately carved stone fireplace almost large enough for an average sized female to walk into without knocking herself senseless. Shields brightly painted in bold heraldic designs hung on the high wall over the fireplace and a carefully, and artfully, constructed log pile along with a set of fire irons too ridiculously covered in scrollwork to be functional stood to one side. At the other side, off set in order to allow the user to look up and stare thoughtfully into the flames, was a gleaming polished wood knee hole desk. Merrick was sat in the over fanciful Queen Anne style desk chair with his feet casually up on the desk, his legs crossed at the ankles. With the smallest nod of his head aimed at Dean, Merrick lifted his pint sized heavily engraved silver goblet a little in greeting. Dean turned away and scanned the rest of the large stone walled room. Two walls were covered ceiling to floor with dark wooden book shelves filled with books. Dean guessed they were in Crouch's library room. The forth wall was broken up by five tall, narrow, arched windows with thick stone lintels and broad, deep window ledges. The floor had on it what looked to Dean like one of those antique Persian hand knotted rugs he'd sometimes seen in very expensive stores. It very nearly stretched from wall to wall and was a mixture of deep blues, fiery scarlet reds and the darkest of greens. In the very centre of the library stood a very good quality circular table with six dining chairs and one carver chair positioned around it. Right now, it was what was _on_ the table that mattered the most to Dean. Leaving Crouch to turn his back on empty space, Dean turned to Ethan.

"You can go change your pants now Eeth."

-o-

Ethan looked from Dean to Merrick, who shrugged, then back to Dean.

"That was _me_ tellin' _you_ to get lost. Comprende?"

Crouch kept his back turned when he spoke.

"_Ethan_...Kindly remember who it is you work for."

Dean grinned and directed Ethan's gaze to the Taurus. Ethan left. Hurriedly.

Crouch finally turned at the sound of his door opening then slamming shut. Realising he had just been undermined by this stranger who should still be locked up and rotting in the tower, Crouch's face turned scarlet with fury.

"_How dare you_! You're going to wish you hadn't...? **_Boy_**! You _look_ at me when I am speaking. I am the_ Squire_ and _you_...! _Look at me_! I said **_look at_** **_me,_**_ scum_!"

During Crouch's temper tantrum, Dean was speaking quietly in Sam's ear.

"There's food and water on that table. Go sit down and you make sure you drink, ok? I need you to stroll on over like you're fine. Can you do that for me?"

Sam pulled away from Dean and turned to glance at the stuttering Squire disdainfully.

"Noisy little prick, isn't he?"

-o-

Dean watched briefly as Sam casually headed for the central table, a small smile the only outer sign of the pride he felt, knowing how drained and hurting his brother actually was. Dean turned and, finally, looked Crouch in the eye. Behind him, Sam continued his nonchalant act watched by Merrick. Picking up a large leather jug Sam filled a goblet with water before sitting down, looking completely at ease as he reached for an apple and settled in to enjoy the entertainment.

-o-

Crouch stopped ranting when his eyes met Dean's, and the Squire felt a chill run down his spine. Dean's eyes were ice lasers, cutting into Crouch, from the face of a calm and self confident Hunter.

"Sorry Crouch. I wasn't paying attention there. Did you say something?"

Crouch blew like a geyser, his red face moving towards puce, he took three strides towards Dean, bellowing at him.

"_You insolent pup_! _You need a lesson in __**respect**_!"

In his peripheral vision, Dean noted Merrick change from relaxed cat basking in the sun, to cat with potential mouse as he sat up straight. Sliding his feet off the desk and standing up, he moved around the desk, and stopped. Clearly attentive, but not yet ready to confront. Dean appreciated the gesture and his steady glare stayed on Crouch whilst not doubting that Merrick knew Dean had seen his movement. At the tavern, Dean had recognised that Merrick was a man very much like Sam and himself. He doubted Merrick held any firm loyalty towards his sponsor, and knew Merrick would make his _own_ mind up whether to lend his support to Crouch, or not.

-o-

Dean's relaxed stance didn't alter in the face of the pit bull like advance of Crouch. He simply raised the Taurus, pointing the business end at Crouch's barrel chest. He had no idea whether Crouch had seen a gun before, or whether the man had merely instinctively recognised it as a weapon. Whichever it was, Crouch halted his approach, his eyes fixed on the Taurus.

"You know Crouch, you should _really_ get your blood pressure checked, before you suffer a stroke. Now, I think there's been a misunderstanding here. You, or maybe some of your gang, mistakenly locked me and my brother up in one of your tower cells. I don't deny the view was pretty...What's with the hole in the floor anyway?...But the room service was, quite frankly, crap...I thought you should you know."

Crouch didn't manage to extract the title of Squire from it's rightful owner by being an idiot. He recognised a face saving deal when he was being presented with one. He spared a sidelong glance over to Merrick who blinked once slowly, his message clear - _Take it, it's better than the alternative is likely to be._

-o-

Crouch's stance altered dramatically. The anger induced tension departed and everything about the man relaxed. His expression became one of apology, at odds with the beaming smile peering out from behind his full beard and moustache, and he rubbed both hands together.

"Dear friends. I had no idea! Please accept my apologies. I instructed that you be shown to the guest chambers. Rest assured, the idiot who mistakenly took you to the tower will most certainly be punished whole heartedly! Merrick? Do we know who is responsible for this most terrible of errors?"

Merrick didn't answer immediately, instead his eye's narrowed as he gazed at Crouch for a brief moment. It appeared to Dean as though Merrick was contemplating whether or not Crouch actually expected him to offer up a sacrifice. Seeming to make his mind up, Merrick turned to look at Dean. His face gave nothing away and his voice carried no discernable emotion. Dean couldn't help but think what an interesting challenge playing poker against the guy might be.

"No. I don't."

"Ah ... Have no fear my most excellent gentlemen, I am certain we shall uncover the varmint. In the meantime, please, take a seat with me at my table and allow me to have a proper meal brought. I'll not see you dine on this miserly snack. It would be the least I could do to make amends for this, um, error of judgement. Why, my dear friend, whilst we share a meal, perhaps you could tell me about that item in your hand? It has most certainly aroused my curiosity. In return I would answer your enquiry about the, ah, _hole_ in the floor of each cell. Merrick, you will join us?"

Merrick gave a tight smile.

"As you wish Squire. I'll send one of the door guards to the kitchens to tell them we have guests and wish to dine."

Dean would rather not have shared a meal with Crouch, but even the sight of a few slices of dry bread, a platter of apples and a jug of water looked appetising right then. Dean shrugged nonchalantly.

"Fine. We'll stay for a meal, but then my brother and I will be getting off. Places to go, people to see. You know how it is. Tell you what though Crouch. I wouldn't mind borrowing a couple of your horses?"

-o-

Crouch suddenly appeared to have developed a twitch at the corner of one eye. He rubbed at the offending eye in annoyance.

"Um...Well now, erm, I think all the horses are out being exercised..."

"Oh, I'm sure there must be at least a couple left in the stables, don't you think? It will make things go _so_ much easier."

Dean laid the Taurus on the table, his hand stroking the handle of the gun meaningfully, an action that prompted a sudden snort of laughter from Sam, which the younger Hunter tried to cover up by developing a nasty fit of coughing. His eyes still on Crouch, Dean smiled at the Squire whilst at the same time pounding Sam on the back a touch harder than was absolutely necessary.

"Excuse my brother will you? He must've got some straw stuck in his throat."

**-oOo-**


	8. Chapter 8

**C8**

-oOo-

"So, that's where we were supposed to..."

"Take a dump? Yeah. We were expected to hang our bare asses through the hole when we wanted to crap. No flush, just gravity, an' a whole lotta moat to pollute. I mean, did you catch the _stench _coming off that thing when we rode out of there? Anyone fallin' in it would drown in shit and piss!"

"Nice imagery there bro, thanks."

From astride his chestnut mare, Dean grinned at Sam.

"Consider this, you didn't immediately wanna puke. That's good. Means you're feeling almost human again, right?"

"Gross ... _Whoa_ there boy, what's gotten into you?...It's just a whole bunch of trees, horse! No need to go scaredy cat."

Sam managed to calm his suddenly skittish grey. Neither horse was likely to win any racing trophies, but they were both fit and healthy. Crouch at least clearly liked his animals to be well cared for. They had trotted along the yellow roadway as it meandered towards the point at which it led off into the forest, and now Sam shivered at the touch of the cool patches of shade that were the shadows of the forest boundary trees.

"He ok?"

Sam patted the grey's neck.

"Yeah, he's fine...High spirits."

Looking serious, Dean glanced at his brother then inclined his head towards Sam's gelding.

"You mean him?...Or in the forest?"

Sam frowned, actually considering the question, until he saw the crinkle of amusement at the edges of Dean's eyes.

"Oh, _ha ha_. My, my, but aren't _we_ as sharp as a doughnut today?"

-o-

The pair quickly discovered that the grey gelding was much happier if the chestnut mare took the lead on the yellow brick road which, within the forest, had narrowed down to a single track that wove and zigzagged along, carefully curving around every tree, mature shrub, or rocky monolith standing along it's route. The whole forest lent itself to the ideal of an outstandingly beautiful, lush, sun speckled, moss coated, bluebell filled, monolithic, cave riddled, tempting pathwayed, enchanted and had to be Fairy inhabited, place. Here and there, water in small crystal clear streams banked by wild flower covered moss merrily chuckled by. Huge lengths of ivy and vines hung down from the branches of tall trees like partially fallen Christmas garlands. In one area Dean looked back over his shoulder at Sam and pointed off to the right and up. Sam gazed in fascination high up within the trees at the section of rickety looking wooden walkway that was visible to them. He would dearly have loved to somehow get up there and explore, see where it led him, find out if it was still used, and who by? Sam was mesmerised, his imagination conjuring up so many different possibilities. Dean's deadpan voice dragged him out of his wonderings.

"Better keep a look out for Ewocks Sammy. Either of us sees one? It's foot down and turbo charge the nags time, ok? No _way_ I'm sufferin' that freakin' _Yip, Yip_ song all night dude!"

-o-

Sam cringed, Dean's voice seemed too loud in the silence of the forest - _Silence?_

"Um, Dean?...Eye's peeled...You're right an' forward."

Dean didn't demand an explanation, Sam's heads up attuned him to the silence that surrounded them and he simply switched to high alert, constantly scanning ahead and right, as instructed. A few moments later, he heard the sound of a branch snap, and of twigs breaking. His voice was just loud enough for his brother to hear.

"Sam? Which one of us is checkin' _up_? I think there's someth..._Ooophh_! What the...? _Ow_!_ Jeeze_! _Ouch_!..._Sonova...Who the Hell..? Dammit!"_

Sam had already dismounted and was hurriedly dragging his own frightened horse towards a stand of three ancient Weeping Willows.

"Dean! Quickly! In here."

Dean put pressure against his horses flanks with the sides of his boots and the animal wasted no time in following where it had seen it's companion being taken by the taller human. Dean felt another three strikes to his back, hearing the thud of contact by whatever was being thrown at him. Still cursing, he quickly leaped off the horse and encouraged it to walk through the curtains of thick hanging branches. Dean and the mare pushed their way further, finding themselves walking into a large clear area under a green leafy canopy. Sam and the grey were already standing in the centre of the natural dome formed by the three willows. The two horses snickered to one another.

-o-

"You ok?"

Dean nodded, still gazing around their sanctuary in amazement. Sam smiled, enjoying watching Dean's honest reaction to his surroundings.

"This is awesome! It's like a giant green dome tent, except it's trees...Awesome!"

Sam laughed.

"Worth all the apples then?"

Dean focused on his brother.

"Come again?"

"_Apples_...The ones that were being hurled at you."

"Seriously? That's what was hittin' me? Some douche out there's slingin' apples around? Right! Whoever it is? They're dead meat!"

Sam arched one eyebrow.

"It's not some_one_ pounding you with apples, it's some_thing..._You really_ did_ sleep through the movie, didn't you? If you'd actually watched it, you'd know that Dorothy tried picking an' apple and pissed off the apple tree. The scarecrow ended up conning it into throwing an apple at her. In the movie she caught it. It's gotta be the living apple tree bombarding you Dean...Oh yeah! Word of advice? Don't decide to pick one up and eat it, they might be poisoned."

Dean gazed at Sam knowingly.

"Come on Sammy, 'fess up. You've been quietly gluggin' the ale again while you've been behind me. C'mon, where've you hidden it?"

"I'm tellin' you! It's in the movie! I remember it 'cos...'Cos as soon as I got the chance I, um...Ok, so I tried getting some trees to talk to me, see?"

For a couple of seconds there was nothing said, Dean's steady gaze making Sam want to squirm like he was six years old again. At last Dean's calm, monotone voice broke the silence.

"You have any luck with that, bro?"

Sam burst into laughter at the flat tone Dean used.

"Jerk! I was just a little kid, ok? Kids do that kinda thing, remember?"

Dean smirked.

"Only if they're a natural born geek, brother of mine. See, us _cool_ kids were never fooled so easy. So, what now? We can't just hang about under here, excellent though it is. How many apple tossin' trees are we talkin' here? And why no shiny chainsaw right when you need one?"

-o-

A thud and a squeak from outside the shelter of the willows stalled Sam's response. A blur of grey streaked through the hanging branches at ground level and didn't stop moving until it was securely hidden under the back of Sam's hair. Dean nodded his head towards Sam's neck.

"Dude, you've got a little somethin' stuck to the back of your neck there."

Reaching around, Sam carefully extracted one chittering and spitting, seriously pissed off, Brad. Hanging in Sam's hand, the squirrel aimed it's chittering at Sam, as if keen to tell the Hunter all about what he'd just had to endure.

Dean schooled his expression into neutral.

"Once your pal lets you get a word in Dr Domyheadin, mind askin' him where the Hell he's been till now?"

Leaving his brother to calm the creature, Dean climbed through the middle of the three tree trunks and went to peep through the branches, trying to spot any signs of apple trees at that side of their hiding spot. Satisfied they could get out safely, he returned to his chestnut mare.

"You about ready to make a move? We go out that way, we should be out of the line of fire from the apple trees. _Damn_...The _crap_ I can hear myself sayin' in this dumbass place! No _way _I'm ever comin' here again once this job's over Sam! I want my normal life back."

**-oOo-**


	9. Chapter 9

**C9**

-oOo-

Despite the lunacy of having a squirrel for a guide, the brothers at least felt more confident that they were heading to where Charlie and Dorothy were being held prisoner. Dean was becoming ever more certain that even time passed differently in this place, although he couldn't tell _how_ differently as his watch appeared to have stopped the moment they left the bunker. All either Hunter could go on was their body's needs and, continuing through the forest, both brothers lapsed into the kind of silence that came with weariness and thirst. Even within the shade of the trees, the day had become noticeably hotter and the rhythmic movement of the horses served to lull the pair into a half sleeping state. So much so that neither of them noticed the huge amber eyed eagle owl swoop down low over them, on the wing and on the hunt despite it still being bright daylight. Carrying out a wide turn through the trees, the owl glided silently back, this time coming from behind the two drowsy hunters, it's eyes scanning the narrow strip of yellow to the front of the horses and their riders where, on it's first pass, the great bird had spotted prey. And whilst the owl hunted, another pair of eyes tracked it's flight.

-o-

Seeing no sign now of the prey on the path itself, the owl patiently began criss-crossing over the path, staring down at the forest floor, near and around the riders, keen eyes alert to any signs of movement in amongst the undergrowth. Hidden and secure draped around Sam's neck, the squirrel closed it's eyes and was very quickly asleep.

-o-

Frustrated, the Magenta Mage turned quickly away from the large, flat, polished copper disc that dominated the centre of his chamber. The disc was suspended on edge by no visible means of support. Whilst the mage had been standing in front of it as though in front of a mirror, the surface of the disc had shown the image of an eagle owl in flight, clearly searching for something down on the ground. The centre of the image was cut through by a path of yellow bricks, and moving along the path were two riders. The first sat astride a chestnut mare, closely followed by the second man who was riding a grey gelding. The moment that the mage turned away from the disc, the image had blinked out and the surface of the disc was returned to plain polished copper. The Magenta Mage twice banged loudly on the dark wood of the chamber floor with the bottom of a thick knotted and gnarled yew staff that was almost as long as he was tall. The top of the staff had been beautifully carved into the likeness of an owl. Staring at the arched door to the chamber, the mage banged his staff down twice more, harder this time. Seconds after, the door slowly opened.

-o-

The mage glared down at the man standing to attention in front of him. Not quite five feet tall, the button nosed, round eyed adult munchkin knew better than to make eye contact with the mage before the mage addressed him directly, and he kept his eyes fixed firmly ahead, prepared to stand silently for as long as the mage wanted him to.

"Look at me Grinlaff."

Grinlaff obediently looked up at his master.

"I have a task for you. One that leaves me no choice but to allow you and a group of your comrades to go outside these walls."

He tried his best, but he simply wasn't quick enough to stop the impact of the mage's words from briefly showing on his face.

"Need I remind you Grinlaff, that your precious Dorothy and her _irritatingly_ talkative companion are my prisoners? Whatever you are thinking, you and the others_ will_ return here. If not..."

The mage's unspoken threat was enough to make Grimlaff swallow hard.

"You will choose five others of your kind. You will then travel in the direction of the Applewoods. You will come across two strangers, men, on horseback. You will be friendly, helpful, and you will take them prisoner. After which, you will bring them directly to this place. Is that perfectly clear?"

"Yes my master. Perfectly."

"Good. Oh, just one thing. Try not to forget that I can see you whenever I wish to. Now be gone."

-o-

It's searching having proven fruitless, the eagle owl finally gave up and began it's silent journey homeward.

-o-

Sam and Dean's horses were almost self driving. It seemed to have slowly dawned on the animals that their route involved staying on the hard path. Neither horse hesitated when they came across an overgrown section of the path, they simply brushed through or stepped on the tall, fronded yellow grasses that grew up from between the individual bricks. The grass brushing against their legs dispersed clouds of tiny, downy silver white flecks that were caught and carried upwards by the hot air. The lightest of breezes or breaths could send hundreds and thousands of the delicate flecks into swirls and flurries, reminding Sam of winter snowflakes. Where shafts of sunlight speared through the treetops, the air glittered with glimmers of silver light as the dainty flecks danced and darted in and out of the sun's rays and Sam was entranced. Dean, however, was under-whelmed by the visual aspects of the display and more concerned about the possibility of ending up coated in the damned things from head to foot, resulting in him looking incredibly dusty. There was also his worry that he might be unintentionally swallowing the little beggars in their hundreds! He tried pulling the neck of his tee up over his nose, but he couldn't stand how additionally hot and stuffy the position made him feel on top of the overall warmth of the day. One wilful downy speck took it upon itself to land on one of Dean's eyelashes. Dean began blinking to try to dislodge it. Not noticing how it began to take him longer to open his eyes at each blink.

-o-

Sam yawned yet again. His level of sleepiness was becoming ridiculous, his eyes were spending way more time closed than they were open. If it wasn't for the fact that his brother was so silent, suggesting he too was weary, Sam thought he might have been worried by his own burning desire to sleep. The rumble of his stomach also made him think that it was later than the light levels and the position of the sun actually indicated. He also had the odd feeling that he was wearing a fur collar. The squirrel grumbled and mewled a little when a hand patted it's tail that was curled around the human's neck. Sam's smile when he figured out what his fur collar was instantly grew into another yawn and he felt his eyes droop again. Forcing them open he looked at Dean. From behind it looked as though Dean had his head hanging down, his spine curved forward and it looked as though he was asleep in the saddle. Sam frowned and blinked his eyes firmly a couple of times when it appeared to him that Dean was beginning to slowly tilt sideways a little. Sam realised that he hadn't been imagining it when Dean, obviously having tilted just that bit too far, gracefully slid completely off his horse and landed in an untidy heap on the moss covered forest floor. Sam brought the grey to a standstill and struggled to dismount, trying to coordinate limbs that felt strangely like they didn't belong to him anymore. He staggered and stumbled to Dean's side, collapsing to his knees next to his brother.

"Deee? Dee..ee..nnn. Peas? Wake uppup? Somefink, someth'n snot...Carn'...Murds wuddled...Huh? Murds? Uh oh! _Ship_..."

Keeling over onto his side, dislodging one startled squirrel, Sam fell into a deep sleep lying alongside his already soundly slumbering brother.

**-oOo-**


	10. Chapter 10

**C10**

-oOo-

Further back, and away from the yellow path, a figure emerged out of the safety of the fractured darkness and shafts of light deeper within the trees. With exceptional stealth and grace the stranger moved right up to the side of the sleeping Hunters and paused, staring down at them thoughtfully. Reaching a gloved hand into a soft leather pouch hung from a waist belt, the stranger withdrew a sheet of parchment and a short stubby piece of charcoal. Quickly scribbling a message onto the parchment, the stranger then folded and tucked it into the crook of Dean's elbow. That done, the stranger glanced around the area again. Spotting Dean's chestnut mare and the grey gelding some yards away happily grazing amongst mounds of springy grasses, the figure wandered towards the animals, making a soft click chuck noise. Both horses responded by lifting their heads and turning to stare at the stranger without any signs of worry or concern, allowing the figure to take hold of their reigns and lead them back to the Hunters. Dropping the reigns, the figure tapped each horse on it's nose three times, obviously communicating something to the pair. Working quickly, the stranger unslung a water carrier from off their shoulder. Filling a cupped palm with water, the stranger then splashed the water onto the two unwary brothers. This process was then repeated over and over, until the stranger seemed satisfied. Gathering up the horse's reigns once more, the stranger guided them away from both the area and the yellow brick road, instead leading them in amongst the trees and back in the direction they had originally come from.

-o-

Dean shifted onto his back and tried to wriggle deeper into his mattress. Something tickled at one cheek annoyingly. Lifting a lazy hand, Dean brushed at his cheek, eyebrows drawing together in a frown when he felt something hard briefly before the thing tumbled off his face. In his half awake state he pondered why Sam would be balancing walnut shells on him? Curious, he decided to ask.

-o-

Initially when Dean blinked open his eyes, his vision was quite hazy. Despite that, he was pretty sure the ceiling of their motel room didn't usually gently sway and move. The rooms they got generally didn't smell so nice either. This one smelled clean, fresh, and with an undertone of forest - _Forest? Why am I thinkin'...? Oh, tha's right. I was _in_ a_ _forest...What the Hell was I doin' in a damn...?_ - Dean rapidly blinked his eyelids a few times to clear his vision and the ceiling transformed into numerous glimpses of brilliant blue sky through the leafy branches of tall trees. Dean stared as a collage of mental images brought him up to speed.

"Aw, Hell."

-o-

To Dean's side there was a gasp of air, closely followed by an explosive sneeze and, to Dean's disgust, a sudden light damp spray of wet in, over and around his ear on that side.

"Gnnnm?"

Dean turned his head, jerking it back when his and his brother's nose very nearly collided due to Sam's close proximity. Dean grimaced and shuffled until he was sat upright.

"Sam. _Sam. _Rise 'n shine Sammy. No _way_ you slept through that sneeze, and thanks, by-the-way."

His younger brother peeled open one eye.

"Ferrrwt?"

"Blastin' your snot in my ear, that's for what. C'mon dude. Shake it off. We need to figure out what's goin' on. I don't remember either of us suggesting nap time. Sammy?"

Sam licked his lips with a tongue that felt almost numb before answering.

"K, k. Jussa sec."

-o-

Sam had decided to sit this one out, quite literally. From the comfort of the thick cushioning moss that had acted as his bed so recently, Sam watched whilst Dean strode further along their yellow trail, going as far as around the first bend which took him out of Sam's line of sight. Sam waited nervously until Dean reappeared, shaking his head in Sam's direction. Sam sighed, Dean's signal telling him that he hadn't been able to find any trace of either of their horses in that direction. Sam groaned softly to himself and bowed his head, wondering just how far they both faced having to walk before reaching the Magenta Mage's tower, and Charlie? Sam gradually became aware of something in the peripheral of his vision, something a yellowy cream colour lying crumpled on the ground, right where Dean had been lying. Turning, Sam reached for the object, recognising it from it's texture as parchment paper. Curious, Sam grabbed the folded parchment and carefully began to open it out. Seeing the smudged charcoal writing, Sam looked up and beckoned to Dean, raising his voice so that it was just loud enough for his brother to hear.

"You need to come see this. Someone left us a note while we were doped."

Dean frowned and began jogging back to Sam.

-o-

Dean accepted the parchment that Sam held out to him.

"Thanks. Did you have to sign for it? _Gotta_ be impressed at the mail delivery service around here!"

"Moron. Whoever wrote it used charcoal, that's why the whole thing's smudged, including the signature. Any chance you can make it out?"

Dean scanned the note.

Please accept my humble apologies. I have no argument

with either of you, however, my employer instructed me

to retrieve his property. Next time, stay away from the

yellow grasses, the seeds are toxic. Although, had I not

found you, your deaths would at least have been peaceful.

At first his expression grew devoid of emotion, a signal familiar to Sam, and he_ almost_ felt sorry for whoever had left the missive should Dean figure out who the signature belonged to. A swift change in Dean's expression from neutral through confused and on to angry told Sam that Dean had, indeed, been able to fathom the smeared signature.

"_That rat fink little basta_...

Sam interrupted Dean's flow.

"Who? Who's signed it?"

Eyes filled with fury met Sam's.

"_Merrick!_ It's _that _little jerkoff's signature. He must've been following us for a while now, just waiting for his opportunity. That weasel faced, no nuts, _dick!_"

Moving to Dean's side, Sam read the note again over his brother's shoulder.

"Ok ... So Merrick's taken the horses, and yet it seems he's_ also_ the only reason we're both still walkin' and talkin'! I don't get it. How come he bothered? Why not simply let us both die? Negate the odds of us goin' after him. It just doesn't seem to make any sense."

Dean shoved the note back into Sam's hand and stepped away from his brother, gazing around at the various trees as he answered.

"Because he's like us Sammy. He doesn't kill just for the sake of it. It doesn't give him a kick. He's not a murderer in that sense. Before he will kill, he has to have a reason, one that he believes in. That, or a shit load of money in advance. Either one will work for him.

Looking at the note a third time, it was Sam who now frowned.

"How come you're so sure about that?"

Dean continued to visually scour the area.

"Because, him and me? Back at the tavern there was this moment when we recognised one another. Call it intuition if you want, but both of us realised that we're alike...Sam? Where's your damn squirrel pissed off to _now,_ right when we need it?"

**-oOo-**


	11. Chapter 11

**C11**

-oOo-

Sam glanced around briefly before shrugging his shoulders.

"He's not an _it_, and how am I supposed to know where he's skipped off to? It's not like he's _my _squirrel!"

"You keep tellin' yourself that bro. In fact, if it helps, you could always pretend that_ it_ doesn'tlike you, although you'd just be kiddin' yourself. How about you try callin' it."

"Why me?"

"Cos you named it, so _you_ get to call for it. Personally, I'll be over by that oak tree, not laughing. Not one bit. Off you go then!"

-o-

Dean had blatantly lied. He knew it and Sam knew it. The instant Sam, whilst wandering around, began to shout "_Brad_! _Here Brad_! Come on Brad. Where _are _you Brad?" Dean lost all semblance of self control and was soon encouraging and egging his brother on with helpful taunts like _Try soundin' like Angelina, I bet he'll come then, _whilst tears of laughter streamed down his face.

"Hum. Excuse me, Sir. ... Sir? ... Ex. Excuse me?"

-o-

The owner of the voice changed tactics. This human clearly wasn't hearing him above it's own laughter. A short, stubby finger poked Dean firmly in the back, twice, cringing when Dean's laughter abruptly ceased and the Hunter spun around, to find himself acting out his own slapstick comedic moment when, initially, there appeared to be no one behind him. A polite cough made Dean look down.

"Holy Snow White! It's you! I know who you are. You're the UmpalummM_unchkins_!"

The owner of the finger of pokingness frowned up at Dean.

"Hum. No Sir. We are simply Munchkins, without all that Humpyumpum part Sir. And, if I may be so bold? You and that rather, hum, noisy other one may now consider yourselves our honoured prisoners."

Dean folded his arms across his chest and gazed down at the gathering of short characters with a look of wry amusement.

"Your honoured prisoners? Really. Well, here's the thing. We're both a little busy right now, but if you tell me how we can get in touch with you, soon as we've time, we'll consider it and let you know our decision. Sound fair?"

-o-

Sam decided that enough was enough, he felt he had given it his best shot, if Brad wanted to stay hidden, fair enough. Turning to see what state his unhelpful brother was in, Sam saw that Dean was busy chatting with what appeared to be a huddle of young teens. Hurrying back to his brother, as Sam drew closer, he realised his mistake. The group members were all adults. Sam's speed increased when he realised with delight just who Dean was in conversation with. As he joined his brother, he was in time to hear the male Dean was talking to say "One moment Sir" and see him and his companions huddle tightly together, linked by their arms around the next one's shoulder. Muttering and whispers drifted out from the middle of the group, who were clearly having a debate. Sam stood himself by Dean's side.

"What's going on?"

"I think we're negotiating. They've offered to let us be their prisoners, I've said we're busy but we'll get back to them sometime."

"Oh. I see."

-o-

Sam clamped his hand over his mouth to counter his snigger reflex when a Munchkin head popped up out of the huddle, stared at himself and Dean, then dissappeared back into the huddle again. Dean gave him a nudge.

"C'mon. Let's get goin' while these guys chat amongst themselves."

"What about Brad?"

"What can I say? I'm sorry for your loss Sam. Maybe he made a nice supper for some starving owl?"

Somehow Dean's words didn't help.

-o-

It was Grinlaff who was nominated spokesperson yet again. The argument being that it had been _him _who had been given the instruction to get these humans, or as it turned out, the one human and his friend the giant. The rest of the group felt they were merely tagging along as support, and wouldn't be held responsible if things went sweet green oddly shaped fruit shaped. Which, they realised, it just had.

-o-

The Munchkins stood side by side in a line and gazed at the empty patch of ground that their supposed prisoners had been standing on just moments before. All eyes turned to Grinlaff.

"Hum. I'll go take a look, shall I?"

There was a mass nodding of heads and the group watched expectantly as Grinlaff cautiously approached the previously occupied patch of ground. Hands clasped behind his back, Grinlaff slowly walked up and down and side to side across the whole area, his back curved as he bent over and stared at each single blade of grass, searching for clues. He repeated his search three times before straightening up and nodding his head wisely. Grinlaff turned to face his expectant audience.

"Hum. There are _no_ clues gentlemen. It is, therefore, entirely reasonable to deduce, that our sneaky and dishonourable prisoners have in fact, disappeared."

His audience turned to one another in confusion. Taking a deep breath, one member of the group took a hesitant step forward.

"Excuse me, but, kinda...Didn't we kinda know that already Grinlaff?"

Grinlaff smiled benignly at the questioner.

"An excellent question there Chucluk, and one which I shall now, hum, answer. It most certainly will, I imagine, have _appeared_ that we knew that already. _But_, my fine gentlemen, I put it to, hum, you that not a single one of us, and I include my good self, hum, not one of us could_ actually _know! However, as a result of my close inspection of the _alleged_ ground, we can now say with absolute certainty that, hum, we _do_ know!"

There was a collective gasp at the sheer enormity of Grinlaff's pronouncement. Grinlaff held up a hand for silence.

"Now. Can anyone, hum, explain _how_ we know this? ... Anyone? ... No? Deary daisy gentlemen! Not a single one of, hum, you? Very well. Allow me to, hum, assist. The reason we now know my friends, hum, is _because_ there are no clues! Do you see?"

Chucluk slowly raised his hand. Grinlaff was pleased to see that one of the group, at least, appeared to have understood. Grinlaff beckoned the younger Munchkin forward and invited him to occupy centre stage. Chucluck glanced at the waiting faces of his friends. Taking, a deep breath, he stated with supreme confidence...

"No. Kinda."

The Munchkin's answer initially drew instantaneous applause from all of his companions, until Chucluck's answer actually began to sink in. The applause quickly stuttered and slowed, before dieing out completely. Grinlaff shook his head despairingly at the suddenly disconcerted Chucluck.

"Master Chucluck. Hum. Would you care to explain yourself? I for one, am _most_ curious to, hum, hear your reasons as to why, exactly, you _don't _see!"

Chucluck was initially lost for words. Entirely over-come by Grinlaff's generosity. He couldn't remember any other occasion when he had been made to feel this proud of himself before, **_ever_**! Grinlaff was entrusting to him the task of ensuring everyone else gathered in front of him were fully understanding of the astonishing and incredible fact which Grinlaff's thorough investigation of the alleged area had brought to light. Chucluck gazed along the line of Munchkins, wanting to affirm that they all had their eyes fixed on him.

"My kinda wise and learned companions; it is my honour to tell you that kinda the reason you don't see, is because the two strangers have kinda gone and _disappeared_!"

The light of understanding suddenly dawned on the faces of each of his awe-inspired peers, all of whom began to enthusiastically applaud and whistle the beaming Chucluck once again. Grinlaff marched down the line sternly, glaring at each individual in fury.

"_Stop_ that! Hum. _Stop that I say_! All of you. Hum. _Stop that right_ **_now_**_! _This really will not do ... It's the wrong, hum, answer! Listen to me, hum. It's all in the_ clues_, and there are no _clues_..."

With debate and counter argument still in full swing, the youngest Munchkin of them all eventually gave up completely. Spotting a patch of five leaf clover, he laid himself down on his front and set too at the very important task of counting the leaves on each individual sprig, just to make sure.

**-oOo-  
**_New discovery : Writing Munchkins leaves me in need of a stiff drink!;p_


	12. Chapter 12

**C12**

-oOo-

Walking along the yellow brick road, Sam and Dean looked at one another. Out of sight and back where they had left the Munchkins in a debating huddle, there now drifted the faint sound of frustrated exclamations and arguments.

"You think they're ok back there?"

Dean shrugged as he turned away to look in the direction they were heading. Up ahead, he thought he could see signs of the forest beginning to thin out.

"I guess. Not really our problem right now...Where's that useless damn squirrel got to? You need to start fastening it to you with something, preferably something tight, right around it's scrawny neck."

Ignoring his brother, Sam was staring up through the leafy treetops, up at the confetti patches of blue sky shimmering through the gaps between new leaves.

"Dean. Am I imagining things, or does the sky look like it's got a bit darker to you?"

-o-

Reaching the edge of the forest, the brothers both paused and stared at the scene ahead of them. The immediate landscape was primarily made up of a neat patchwork of crop fields. The road ahead curved down from the tree line until it reached a shallow valley between the fields through which ran a broad river. The yellow brick road turned when it reached the valley gully and from there it ran parallel with the left bank of the river. Directly in front of the Hunter's line of sight the sun was setting; a fiery red orb making a dash for the horizon, dragging behind it a many coloured cloak of sky shot through with turquoise, gold, scarlet, ultramarine, the palest greens and rosy pinks, all then blurring into the deep Prussian blue of night. The sunset hues tinted the crops in the fields, colour washed distant hills, reflected off the river's surface, and the yellow brick road turned golden. Sam stood in silent awe, Dean's reaction was more straight forward.

"My baby and a beer. That's what this needs Sammy. You, me, my baby and beer..._Perfect_."

Sam had no disagreement with his brother's sentiment and it was with some reluctance that he returned his thoughts to the practical.

"We need to decide where we should pitch up for the night. We stay up here, we've got shelter and firewood. Down there we've got water. Or, we could carry on and look for someplace to make camp later."

Dean nodded and considered the options, glancing backwards into the dark of the forest and then down, to the grassy banks of the gently flowing river.

-o-

"How about this instead. We grab some firewood from here and take it down to the river to set up camp. Maybe give your squirrel pal the chance to catch up before we go much further? Otherwise, we're just gonna keep following this road without knowing whether it's even going in the right direction. Anyway. Don't know about you, but I could do with some time to think, get my head around everything before I have to deal with any _more_ weirdo crap. You know, stuff like, what's those Umpakins got on us? Or is politely taking people prisoner just their jokey way of saying hello? Wouldn't be the most surreal thing from today. What d'you think?"

Dean was confused when, in response, Sam thoughtfully bowed his head and gazed down at his own feet. Dean looked at Sam's feet as well. As far as he could discern, given that he could only see Sam's boots, everything looked like it normally did.

"Sammy?"

Sam gave a small nod to his boots and quickly raised his head again.

"Miss Mopcap...Gotta be."

-o-

Dean had the distinct impression he'd missed something, maybe experienced some kind of mini time slip? Sam's seemingly disconnected announcement made no sense. Feeling worried, Dean decided to play along.

"Okaaay. What about Miss Mopcap exactly Sammy? Is she the murderer? We playin' some kinda Oz Cluedo here? That it? Or are you sayin' you can see her? Sammy? Is she here with us? Right now?"

Sam frowned, why's Dean jabbering about Cluedo? And why does he think the barmaid might be here? What's wrong with him? Could the toxins from those sleeping grasses have some sort of delayed hallucinogenic side effect? But, how comeit's only_ Dean _it's effected? Sam spoke to Dean slowly and clearly, watching his brother's reactions intently.

"You asked what I think. Remember? Well...I think _she's_ the most surreal thing from today...What's your vote?"

For a brief period, Dean simply stared at Sam. Then he smiled, his smile grew wider, he began to chuckle. His chuckles grew into laughter, soon accompanied by tears of mirth and followed swiftly along by Dean sitting on the ground and trying to draw panting breaths in between near hysterical laughter. Sam stood by, feeling at a loss. Scratching his head, he patiently waited for Dean to calm down enough to allow Sam to ask his brother whether something wasn't right? He wanted to help Dean, but couldn't until he knew what was wrong. It was Dean who managed to speak first, his words interspaced between further short bursts of laughter.

"My most ... Surreal moment? ... Easy ... This conversation ... With you! _Jeeze_ Sammy you had me worried ... I really thought you'd lost it man!"

"You thought _I'd_ lost it? _You're_ the one sat here laughin' like a crazy guy!"

Dean reached out an arm, clearly wanting help to stand up and it was with some reluctance that Sam obliged.

-o-

"Well? You gonna share whatever I'm supposed to have done _this_ time?"

"Simple misunderstanding bro' is all, not really that funny even, I think this place's just getting to me. When I asked what you thought, I meant to the idea of grabbing firewood and moving down to the river, an' you just seemed to be countin' your feet an' than you just out the blue said Miss Mopcap an' then..."

Sam held both palms out to Dean in surrender.

"Ok, ok. Enough! I get it, neither of us is insane yet; and yes_, please_, let's do the gather wood, go river thing, before I'm tempted to roll around in poisoned grass some more!"

-o-

It was a full moon that night in Oz and it hung in the night sky shining so brilliantly it created a shimmering blue halo around itself as it appeared to stare down at it's reflection in the mirror surface of the river. Now and then, widening circles of ripples trembled the moon's perfect reflection as an unseen fish turned just beneath the water's surface. On the river bank, a cheerfully burning fire added it's warm glow to the colour palette. Sam and Dean ate out of necessity, nobody could call iron rations and a couple of cereal bars a feast, but they had at least managed to boil water in a metal bowl and make coffee. The only sounds were the crackle of their fire, the occasion _plip_ of a fish, and the regular _terwit-terwoo_ of two owls calling across the fields to one another. Overhead, stars twinkled brighter and clearer than either brother had ever seen before and they both gazed upward, tracking the arcing path of a fiery shooting star that made it's way lazily across the sky.

**-oOo-  
**_Don't worry, not likely to stay so peaceful for very long ;p_


	13. Chapter 13

_Like I said, not peaceful for very long!_

**C13**

-oOo-

"You think they have drive by's in Oz?"

Sam chuckled at the look on Dean's face as his brother finished off his lacklustre meal.

"Nope. No cars."

"Good point ... How about _trot_ by's then?"

"Dean? You see that?"

Instantly alert, Dean followed his brother's gaze back along the riverside.

"What am I lookin ... _Crap_! Dammit! _Freakin' thing_. Geddit off me! Rory, _stop_ doin' that!"

Sam moved to grab the squirrel from it's perch on Dean's throat. The creature's front paws were holding onto Dean's jaw and it was stretched forward, sniffing and licking around the side of Dean's mouth and his top lip, obviously attracted by the scent of food. Dean himself was lying on the grass, having tipped backwards in response to the unexpected blur which erupted from out of the grass directly at him, hitting him in the centre of his chest. Sam sat the little animal on his own shoulder and held out a piece of his cereal bar.

"His name's _Brad_. Not Rory."

"Yeah? Take it from me, if it ever pull's that stunt again? It's name's gonna be _supper_! Pull me up?"

"Can't. Busy. Here you go little fella, you ignore your nasty Uncle Dean...That taste good?"

Sitting himself up, Dean glared at his brother.

"No _way_ me and _that_ are related!"

Sam continued amusing himself by using the squirrel to wind his brother up.

"Don't you listen to your wicked Uncle Deanie. He's just sulky 'cos you're cuter than he is, _yes_ you are...Uncle Deanie's just a meanie..."

-o-

Standing, Dean wandered to the edge of the river bank, muttering loudly enough for Sam to hear what he was saying.

"Oh lucky me. I got a lunatic for a brother, who knew? Jeeze!"

Getting down on one knee, Dean stared at his silhouetted reflection on the surface of the moonlit water.

"No _way_ some cousin ovva rat is cuter than me! Never gonna happen."

He swirled a finger through his silhouette, the movement causing a disturbance in the water, shattering his reflection briefly. Dean watched the ripples fade and his silhouette re-form. Cupping his hands together, he dipped them just beneath the surface of the cold water.

_"__Sam...!"_

Sam turned at his brother's startled shout. Dean had vanished.

-o-

The squirrel instinctively jumped off Sam's shoulder and to the ground when it felt Sam's muscles tense right before the Hunter hurriedly moved and ran to the water's edge. Only the widening circles of ripples indicated that there had been some sort of recent disruption to the river's gentle flow. Still calling his brother's name, Sam threw himself flat on the grassy ground and reached down into the depths of the water with one arm, trying to feel for anything that might be Dean to latch on to. There was a bump against Sam's hand and, a moment later, he felt something like coarse sandpaper being scraped across his forearm, causing him to hiss in pain and hastily yank his arm out of the water. Turning his arm into the moon's light, Sam's eye's widened when he saw pin pricks of blood blossom over an area where the top layer of skin appeared to have had a cheese grater rubbed across it.

-o-

The cool of the night air made the raw, grazed area tingle and throb. Instantly, the hours of putting up with Dean's Shark Night shockumentaries sprang to mind and, heart thumping crazily, Sam stared at the river's surface, terrified for Dean. Something had actively pulled his brother off the bank side, down into that night time water. Afraid for his brother to the point of feeling physically sick, knowing he was risking the same thing happening to himself, Sam hurriedly yanked off his boots, stripped off his jacket and shirt, and dived into the shock of the cold waters after his brother.

-o-

Events had occurred too quickly, too unexpectedly for Dean to do more than take in a hurried gasp of air before he was underwater and fast being towed out from the river's edge by whatever had him gripped tightly by his arm. He felt a sudden painful jerking tug and an abrupt change in direction. The pressure on his body increased as he was swiftly hauled vertically down deeper and, his oxygen spent, Dean couldn't take any more. It was almost a relief to give up and to allow his body to cause him to gasp for impossible air. The last thing Dean felt was the first of the water flooding his tortured lungs ... The creature knew the instant that it happened, feeling a change in the drag of it's prize against the water, it's form having become lifeless and compliant.

-o-

Tightening it's hold, the creature increased speed, hesitating for less than a fraction of a second when it felt the edges of the pressure waves caused by something breaking through the water's surface somewhere high above. Nearing the riverbed, the creature's goal was in sight and, dragging Dean's body behind it, the river dweller headed directly towards the entrance of the ancient underwater cavern leading to where it had made it's home.

-o-

Sam repeatedly bobbed below water, feeling around with both his hands and feet, groping blindly in the blackness and praying that the only thing he snagged would be his brother. His prayer appeared to be ineffective, doing nothing to prevent something from suddenly hitting hard into the centre of Sam's back with enough force to drive him through the water just beneath the surface; then it was gone, leaving Sam to thrust himself back upwards and above water, desperate for air. Panting for breath and treading water, Sam frantically scanned the river's surface all around, shocked to see how much further away from the safety of the river bank he now was. Instinct and thought collided, fear driven self preservation and the desperate urge to find his brother fought for dominance; and _all_ of it, every single want and every need became irrelevant, when Sam saw the menacing triangular shape of a fin silently break the river's surface and begin to slice through the dark waters, unerringly heading straight for him.

**-oOo-  
**_Eeek! Off to hide behind my sofa_ :c _Someone else'll have to volunteer  
__to do the next bit, 'cos I'm staying back here till it's all over! Chick xxx_


	14. Chapter 14

Please note, rating has been changed to "**T**"

_Ok, so I decided that I was more afraid of Mb64 shouting at me andthreatening to count to three than I was of what poor old __Sam  
__ is currently facing. So like it or not, I'm carrying on writing so she doesn't have any more reason to threaten me, for now anyway!__** :**__l Chick xxx_

**C14**

-oOo-

Sam's mind unhelpfully pointed out to him the insanity of his current situation. Here he was, in Oz of all places, treading water in a river at night and with a shark cruising towards him ready to tear him apart. The worst of it was that Sam knew full well that he wasn't dreaming and, as far as he could tell, there was nothing he could realistically do to stop what appeared to be the inevitable. He certainly couldn't recall his dad ever having prepared him for this particular scenario. The fin was much closer, when it slid back under the water, and Sam braced himself. _I'm sorry I couldn't get to you in time Dean. I hope you survived somehow._

-o-

The river's surface erupted only a couple of feet in front of Sam as the creature breached, then held it's position in the water, studying the face of the stupefied Hunter. Unable to move a muscle, Sam couldn't form a comprehensible thought or locate the power of speech. All he was capable of was to stare unblinkingly at the strange features of the male face that was calmly watching him. Finally Sam did blink, and it was like a trigger, causing the male to turn away from Sam and, in a blur of motion, arch out of the water like a dolphin, hitting the water again and disappearing, nothing but fading ripples to prove to Sam that he hadn't been hallucinating. Sam's eyes stayed focused on the spot where the creature had re-entered the water, seeing again in his mind's eye the length of platted hair laying down the things abnormally elongated back, out of the centre of which grew a dark, triangular fin. It was that, and how the creature's torso gradually merged into the long, slender, shark like tail that Sam was battling to deal with. He slowly became aware of how much he was shivering, whether with shock or the cold of the water Sam couldn't be certain. Reluctantly he began to slowly swim back to shore, guided by the red glow of the fire that Dean had made.

-o-

When Sam made it to the bank of the river, he was no longer shivering and, in fact he, felt quite comfortably warm. He was so tired that he had to force himself to open his eyes again each time he realised that they were closed. Somewhere in his sub-conscious, Sam fleetingly recognised that these were not such good signs, but really he was too exhausted to care. Sam was grateful, then, for the hand that reached out to him, ready to help him climb back onto dry land.

-o-

As soon as Sam crawled out of the water, his legs decided that they just couldn't be bothered to hold him upright, and Sam collapsed back onto the grassy ground. Strong hands immediately rolled him onto his back and concerned eyes looked down at him.

"You're too cold Sam. I need you to stay awake for me while I try to get you warmed up, hear me? I need to get you back into your top clothes."

Sam managed to force his numbed lips into a half smile.

"M'ok Dean...M'ok."

Merrick gave a sigh of frustration as Sam's eyes helplessly drifted closed.

"Oh Sam. Where _is_ your damn brother my friend? Is that why you were in the water? Were you searching for him Sam? Is that where he's gone?"

Sam didn't respond.

-o-

It was cold, and whatever it was that covered him felt odd, and it stank. Dean wriggled his nose and grimaced. The smell was overpowering and he felt his stomach revolt against it. His throat hurt like he'd already violently thrown up and every inward breath made his ribs ache. There was an irritating and odd sort of whistling noise coming from somewhere close by. Keeping his eyes closed, for a while Dean concentrated on trying to figure out what was responsible for making the sound, eventually realising exactly why it seemed to be keeping time with his breathing. That's when his eyes flicked open, at the sudden recollection of being dragged off the river bank by something that then towed him down into deep water, until he could no longer hold his breath. One upward glance told him he wasn't where he wanted to be as he gazed at the phosphorous white light glowing in swathes down damp, rocky walls.

"Well. It sure as Hell ain't Kansas."

-o-

The camp fire was blazing and Merrick had laid Sam as close to it as he dare. Initially, white steam began streaming off the Hunter's soaked jeans and Merrick quickly re-positioned Sam's legs, not wanting to leave him par boiled. It didn't take long for his charge to begin shivering and then begin to gradually warm up. Merrick set some water to boil, wanting to be able to get a warm drink down the young man when he awoke. Settling back Merrick waited, staring knowingly out over the river's surface watching for tell-tale signs, Dean's continued absence acting as the confirmation of what had happened to the man Merrick saw as his counterpart.

-o-

Dean turned his attention to the stuff covering him like a blanket, the main source of the over powering dead fish stink. Peeling off the thready textured stuff, Dean quickly discovered that he had been blanketed in dried algae. It was a relief to free himself from the stuff, until he realised how damn cold it was in the phosphorescent cavern. He considered using his blanket to make a fire, but guessed it wouldn't take long for the algae to burn away, leaving him freezing once again. Dean stared at the dark pool of water that took up half the cavern's floor space, knowing that unless he could find another route, it was his only way out of there, and his odds of survival were way less than average. Standing up, Dean began to explore.

-o-

Sam moaned and blinked open his eyes. The first thing filling his vision was the cheerfully burning fire who's welcome heat was warming him through. He clearly recalled swimming for the river bank, but not having managed to get himself on to the side, put wood on the fire and put his dry top clothes back on along with other layers.

"De'en?"

Sam turned his head in the direction of the sound of movement.

"De'an, you ok?"

The worried looking face that moved into Sam's line of sight, shook Sam into a higher level of wakefulness. Raising his head off the ground, Sam glared in suspicion at Merrick.

"Mer'ck? ... Where m' brother? What you done?"

Merrick hushed at Sam and reached forward, helping the Hunter to sit up further.

"Nothing Sam. I assure you, your sibling was nowhere to be seen when I found you. However, I am certain I know what has happened to him. Here, hot water, do you think you could manage to drink some?"

Sam grimaced.

"Coffee?"

Merrick glanced down at the contents of the mug he still held for Sam.

"My apologies. I'm unfamiliar with this _coffee_ you refer to?"

Sam managed to support himself using one arm and point to the tub of coffee.

"Put two spoon's worth of that brown powder into the hot water and pass it here, please."

Merrick was intrigued at the sudden colour change of the water, from clear to a dark brown, and the sudden aroma, the like of which he had never smelled before.

"This is safe for you to drink?

Sam nodded in silence. Merrick wondered whether the dark drink tasted as good as it's odour suggested. He held the coffee tub up for Sam to see.

"May I?"

Confused, but beginning to feel less threatened by Merrick's presence, Sam nodded.

"Sure, knock yourself out. Then tell me where you think my brother is."

Frowning at Sam's words, Merrick quickly reached towards the mug in Sam's hand.

"Sam, I am sorry, but I insist you do not drink this. You must remain conscious if we are to find your brother."

Sam was faster than Merrick, moving his coffee out of the man's reach, a small smile on his lips.

"Don't worry. _Knock yourself out_ is just a figure of speech. This stuff can actually make you feel more awake, _especially_ if you're not used to it. Give it a go, but drink it slowly."

Merrick watched Sam drink, then followed suit. His eyes widened at his first sip. Sam grinned.

"Good?"

"Extremely! Thank you for allowing me to taste this!"

Sam shuffled himself away from the fire and sat cross-legged.

"Do you think Dean's ... Do you think he's alive?"

Merrick saw the open fear in Sam's eyes.

"I do Sam. Rest assured. You and your brother are very close?"

Sam nodded, whilst reassured by Merrick's apparent confidence in the fact that Dean was alive, he was unwilling to engage further in any conversation about his and Dean's relationship with this man.

"How come you're here Merrick? Did Crouch order you to follow us? What makes you so sure Dean's ok? What's happened to him? Are the rest of Crouch's men around too. Have they taken him?"

**-oOo-**


	15. Chapter 15

Message to ncsupnatfan - Wot you doin' reading this?  
Get back to slaving over Freakin' Friday! :D Chick xxx

**C15  
**-oOo-

Dean prodded at what could best be described as a nest created, primarily, from the same algae as the blanket used to cover him had been made from. The nest, however, also had rushes and grasses woven through the algae, giving support and strength to the shallow side surrounding the circular structure. The centre of the nest was well padded with dead leaves, duck feathers and more rushes. Dean narrowed his eyes, gazing at the imprint left by the owner of the nest, trying to make out the size and shape of it's absent occupant. Elsewhere in the cavern he had discovered a pile of bones, some clearly fish bones whilst others seemed to be the bones of other small animals, including the skulls of ducks and small mammals. Dean guessed at these being the leftovers from the occupant's meals. Spread out on the flat top of a long rock sat on the cavern floor was a selection of coloured pebbles and interestingly marked or shaped stones, along with twisted sticks and larger gnarled pieces of wood. The only function that Dean could attribute was purely decorative, as if the owner simply enjoyed collecting and displaying these kinds of items. What he hadn't found was any evidence of weapons of any kind or even signs of items that could constitute tools. The cavern walls themselves were damp and Dean assumed they were permanently that way. There was one area of rocky wall where the phosphorescence seemed to have been applied in some kind of sequence or pattern that looked almost decorative, like pictures displayed on the walls of a house. What Dean _hadn't_ found was any kind of exit that might have allowed him to avoid the probability of drowning.

-o-

Merrick held a hand up to Sam.

"Please. Allow me to answer the questions you have asked so far before you think of any more! Firstly, why am I here? Curiosity. You and your brother clearly are not from around here, I decided to follow you both when I found myself interested in the purpose for you being in Oz. That, then, should tell you that I am not here by Crouch's order. I have ended my employ by the man, I was already finding him wearisome and considering moving on. No, I am not travelling with any of Crouch's retinue, I have no fraternity with them, but can assure you they are not responsible for taking your brother."

"So, what _has_ happened to Dean?"

"Tell me this, Sam. When you were in the water, did you happen to see anything, well, _odd _I suppose?"

Sam stared at Merrick, the colour draining from his face, his heart rate rocketing, the mug slipping unnoticed from his hand spilling it's contents and landing on the ground.

"_No_! You...? The...The... It attacked my brother. _Didn't_ _it_? Did you see it? _Did you see it take Dean_! You _can't_ be dumb enough to think my brother's still alive! _Not_ ifthat..._Thing..._ Oh, crap..._Dean_!"

Sam stared at the ground, his breath coming in rasping pants, his guts churning, adrenaline levels spiralling out of control as his grief and rage edged helplessly towards a fully fledged anxiety attack.

-o-

Merrick saw that he had to act swiftly, the whole of Sam's posture had altered in an instant, blazing out the promise of an imminent physical attack on his person. Scrambling to his feet, Merrick rapidly backed away from Sam who's eye's, made black by his dilated pupils, met Merrick's and fixed on him. Maintaining eye contact with the suddenly potentially deadly younger man, at pains to keep his voice calm and low, Merrick raised both his hands, showing that he had no weapon.

"Sam. Please. Hear me. Those _creatures..._They are _not_ wanton killers. I have _never_ heard of an attack on a human. The biggest thing they might kill would be a badger, for food, but _not_ a human. _Never _a human. You _must _believe me Sam. I don't know of _any_ evidence of intentional harm of a person.

As Merrick spoke, Sam had risen to his feet, and now glared down at Merrick from his full height.

"Keep talking. You're describing sharks in this damned place as very different to some of those in _my_ world. Try convincing me Merrick, and I warn you, your time's short."

Merrick vaguely wondered where the dagger had appeared from, and how it so quickly got into Sam's hand? He found himself rapidly re-evaluating his assessment of this younger brother, finally seeing the killer that was as much a part of Sam as it was of Dean, recognising that in his way, _this _was the more dangerous of the two brothers. That Sam's quieter persona and seemingly less volatile nature must have fooled more than just himself into thinking Sam could be overlooked until, suddenly, it was too late. Merrick frowned. _What did Sam call them?__** Sharks**__?_

"I'm sorry, I am unfamiliar with the word Shark. These are the Jenposson. Families of them reside in most of our lakes and in the deepest parts of our rivers. They keep the water clean and pure. And, although they are not _commonly_ seen, there are occasions when they seem to be curious and they might choose to interact."

Sam's patience was wearing very thin.

"Clarify _interact_."

"Sometimes they appear and join in when land children are playing in the water, they allow them to ride on their backs. Sometimes a male might approach a pretty girl and present her with a coloured pebble or some such. Other times they will choose to help those who are fishing for food by driving the fish towards the bait. In the past, many, many years ago before we developed some understanding of them, and them of us, they _would_ occasionally take someone down with them."

Sam continued to glare at Merrick.

"Why?"

"Like us, they seem to love. Sometimes they fixate on a human."

Sam's gaze turned icy.

"Really. And, just out of curiosity, given that these Jenposson live underwater, how did those love matches generally turn out? Only, I know my brother, and if he'd somehow developed the ability to breathe underwater, I'm pretty sure I'd be aware of it."

-o-

The sound of splashing from the pool in the cavern drew Dean's attention. Seeing the cause, he felt his jaw drop slightly as he gawped at what looked, from where he stood, for all the world like a mermaid smiling closed lipped up at him.

"_Sonova_...! Look at _you_! Can you speak? Is it you who brought me here? Damn but my brother's _so_ not goin' to believe this when I tell him! What's your name? Hell, _I_ don't believe it and here I am talking to you! Is this where you live? Are you really real? Crap, I'm babbling, aren't I? I am. Sorry about that, but, _really_?...Um...Any idea how I get back up top? Lady? _Oh_!...You, er, _your_ top, you haven't got, you're um, you know, and. _Wow_!"

**-oOo-**


	16. Chapter 16

**C16  
**-oOo-

Dean was sure he'd done the polite thing and turned away from the female's charms, but he quickly realised that, whilst it might have been what his head intended him to do, he was actually still staring at those same charms. He would have had the decency to be embarrassed about his mesmerised gaze, if the female..._Whateversheis_, had seemed in the slightest bit upset or offended by his focused attention. Instead, she appeared to find it amusing, or that's what Dean assumed, given that she was still smiling prettily at him. Encouraged, Dean began to walk towards her, coming to a stand-still when the female..._Thingy_, suddenly turned her back on him and silently sunk beneath the water and out of his sight. Dean remained motionless, staring at the spot from which the female had vanished, thoughtfully considering the dark triangular shark fin that he had observed to be protruding from her back, and which was clearly a part of her.

-o-

Merrick kept a close eye on Sam's response, ready to react as he answered the Sam's question as best he could.

"There are written histories, accounts of people returning without ill effect. But, I confess, there are _other_ tales whereby the person was never seen or heard of again. We cannot possibly know what happened to them, only that they were taken through love."

Sam was silent. Merrick's description of the Jenposson resonated with him, bringing to mind the tales of Nymphs, Water Sprites and Merpeople back home and he felt his anger begin, at last, to recede; a nugget of hope taking root in it's place. Turning his head, Sam gazed out over the surface of the gently flowing river. _I know you're out there Dean, I just gotta figure a way to get you back. You hang on in there brother. You hear me? If you can't make it back yourself, you hang on and wait for me._

-o-

Shivering with the cold in the cavern, Dean had to resort to wrapping the foul stinking blanket of loose woven algae around his shoulders, wearing it like a cloak while he waited for his hostess, who he thought of as the shark woman, to return. His "well-thought through" plan for getting out of his current predicament being to hitch a ride off her, if she was willing. As he waited, he wandered over to more closely inspect the pile of bones he assumed were the remnants of her meals, paying much more attention this time to what was scattered there. He knew it should be reassuring that he found nothing resembling human, or human type, remains; and he was, partially. Somehow though, the glass half empty part of his nature couldn't help but torment him with the idea that, maybe it was merely because the locals knew not to take a dip in this particular section of the river? Dean had only a vague idea of how long he had been gone from where he and Sam were camped, primarily as he had no idea what time it was when he was pulled from the riverbank. Dean _did_ know that his brother would, at best, be frantic. At worst, Sam would have assumed by now that he had drowned. Dean began to rapidly grow impatient as his wait continued.

-o-

Sam turned back to look at his unexpected companion.

"Alright then. You've convinced me. And I'm sorry, you know? For taking my worry out on you. I shouldn't have, you're not to blame."

Sam's voice was sincere, and Merrick allowed himself to relax.

"I understand, but thank you non-the-less for your apology. I truly feel it is unlikely any harm was intended to your brother Sam."

Sam nodded.

"I think he's out there Merrick, somewhere, alive. How about we have another coffee and finish off the hot water?"

A slight twitch of one eyebrow was the only sign of Merrick's surprise at Sam's apparently calm exterior. Merrick was soon sniffing in appreciation at another helping of the dark and flavoursome brew Sam called coffee.

-o-

From where he sat, for some reason feeling alert and energised, Merrick watched with interest when Sam determinedly headed to the riverside, carrying the now empty metal bowl that they had boiled water in. It seemed that the guy's plan was to sit for the rest of the night drinking more coffee. Merrick didn't have a problem with the general idea, but he was confused by Sam's lack of concern for his missing brother. Merrick had harboured the impression that these two siblings were very close; but Sam's responses suggested to Merrick that his previous belief was, most unusually for him, _in_correct.

-o-

Kneeling down at the river's side, Sam grasped the bottom of the bowl in his outspread hand. Reaching out as far as he could without loosing stability, Sam began to pound rhythmically on the surface of the water with his makeshift metal version of a tribal shark fisherman's half coconut shells. Merrick sat forward, taking in what he was witnessing and mulling over possible reasons for Sam's activity, smiling when he quickly realised the likely result of Sam's otherwise bizarre behaviour. Merrick nodded to himself in approval, he'd never seen the technique used before, but Sam's action could potentially work and successfully attract the attention of the Jenposson!

-o-

Deep under the water, where human eyes would be blind, the male Jenposson hung motionless, positioned over a bed of deep water plants that comprised of long, broad, oxygenating strips of soft greenery which reached upwards, as though trying to reach the surface, and appeared almost like a dwarf version of a marine kelp forest. The Jenposson held the length of his humanoid body and it's tail in amongst the plant's leaves, using them to break up and disguise his shape whilst he waited for the thrill of the mild electrical charge that would suddenly tingle down both sides of the creature's streamlined shark tail, signalling that potential prey was approaching. The vibrations caused by the sudden pounding of something unusual back up on the water's surface warned the Jenposson's intended supper to flick it's tail and swiftly head off, back in the direction it had come from. Feeling both irritated and curious, the Jenposson broke it's cover, and slowly began to head back up to the surface, in search of the source of the thumping vibrations.

-o-

Merrick constantly scanned the river as he stood at the side of Sam's kneeling form, ready to grab hold of him should it look like Sam was in danger of being pulled into the water if his attempt to attract one of the half human, half fish creatures succeeded. Both he _and_ Sam, however, were both still startled when the male's head unexpectedly breached the surface and one hand yanked the metal bowl out of Sam's grasp.

-o-

Ignoring the two surface walkers, the Jenposson began turning the bowl over and over in it's hands, inspecting it with a good deal of interest. Lifting the container to peer down inside it, the Jenposson's eyes shot wide open and it snapped it's head back whilst making a low keening sound. Sam quickly raised one hand, palm out towards the shocked creature.

"It's ok, it's ok. Shhhh, it can't hurt you. Nothing's comin' out. It's letting you see yourself is all. Here, bring it here and I'll show you, it's ok."

Still holding the bowl but at arm's length, the Jenposson frowned uncertainly at Sam. Sam smiled and beckoned to the wary creature.

"I promise, it's ok. Look, I'm just gonna sit on the edge, alright?"

Merrick tensed.

"Sam, I'm not sure..."

"Quiet. It's fine."

-o-

The Jenposson moved further away from the river's edge and watched suspiciously when Sam slowly began to move. Sam made sure that outwardly his demeanour remained relaxed and non-threatening, despite his thoughts instantly channelling Dean. _What the Hell you doin' moron? Are you crazy? Damn thing's part freakin' shark! _ Sam sat himself on the edge of the bank side, trying not to flinch as he dangled his legs over the edge and into the cold water. Once again, he beckoned to the watching creature, inviting it to move closer.

"Come on, it's fine."

The Jenposson glanced at the bowl it still held away from it's body, then up towards Merrick, the suspicion increasing on it's face. Sam never dropped his reassuring smile.

"Move away Merrick. I'm ok, really."

With a last look at the creature, Merrick shrugged.

"If you say so."

Seemingly reassured, the Jenposson tentatively swam right up to Sam, stopping where Sam's legs dangled in the water. Sam gestured towards the metal bowl.

"Here. Let me show you what it does."

With some reluctance, the creature handed the bowl back to Sam. Holding it so that the moonlight caught the metal, Sam tipped the bowl and leaned closer to the Jenposson. Positioning himself so that his own reflection could be seen, Sam invited the creature to take a look. Sam felt the Jenposson's breath against his neck, smelt it's fishy odour as it moved even closer to see into the bowl's depths. Sam heard a short gasp.

"See? Now it's showing me how _I_ look."

Once again Sam's internal Dean piped up. _Yeah, an' right now that's pretty goddamn crap bro'! _Sam turned the bowl so the light caught the outside, and grinned at the Jenposson's open mouthed surprise.

"That's you _and_ me, together."

From where he had positioned himself, Merrick watched as the human and the Jenposson continued to play with the bowl for a short while, the Jenposson obviously delighted by the object. It was Sam who finally brought the game to an end. Merrick noticed how Sam kept the simple metal bowl in his possession, and how the river creature never quite managed to take his eyes off it.

"_Oh_!...Clever young man...So_ very_ clever!"

-o-

At last Dean saw ripples disturbing the surface of the pool and he stood up from where he had been sat on the cavern floor, the blanket pulled tightly around himself, growing fed up and annoyed at having been deserted. The female's head appeared out of the water and she smiled at Dean.

"What's took you so long? I'm freezing my ass off here. You have to take me back up. Back up top, to dry land. Do you understand one single word I'm saying?"

The female pouted and swam to the edge of the pool nearest Dean. She moved her lips silently and appeared to be concentrating. Dean was getting very close to the limit of his remaining crumbs of patience.

"Land?"

The female's whisper galvanised Dean into movement and he quickly knelt down in front of her.

"Yes. That's right..._Land_. I want to go back to land."

Dean was miming and pointing as he spoke.

"You take me to land?"

"Land?"

"By George, I think she's got it! You. . Me back land. _Jeeze_ I sound like Tarzan!"

The female shook her head.

"No. No land!"

"Come again? What's _that_ supposed to mean? I ain't stayin' here, no _way_. With or without your help, I'm leaving! You got that, _sweetheart_?"

Dean didn't know or care how much the female understood of what he said, but he was pretty certain she'd understood the tone of his voice at least when he saw her eyes narrow and her mouth open to produce a shrill whistling cry. What really captured his attention though, was his first real sight of her teeth. Two rows top and two rows bottom, kind of pointy looking and, Dean guessed, with some level of sharpness involved.

Dean was swiftly on his feet and backing off from the edge of the pool.

"I'd keep that closed if _I _were you darlin', don't exactly inspire a kiss-a-thon!"

The female that Dean had designated a mermaid hissed at him as she smacked the palms of both hands flat to the cavern floor, and with a push, half raised herself out of the pool.

-o-

It had taken some slow speaking, hurriedly scribbled sketches and the promise of the magic bowl, but the male Jenposson had understood and, to Sam's relief, agreed to try to find his brother and bring him back. With a powerful flick of it's tail, the male river dweller was gone.

**-oOo-**


	17. Chapter 17

**C17**

-oOo-

There were times when Dean Winchester unintentionally kidded himself that he had seen all there was to see, and every time he thought that, something would turn up, laugh at him, and say _think again_. Right now it was the mermaid who was proving that there were still things that could surprise him, and not always in a good way. He'd thought he was safely out of her way due to being clear of the water. Even when she was sat on the cavern's stone floor with the majority of her thresher shark style tail still sweeping back and forth in the water, he was unconcerned, there being plenty of distance between them both. It wasn't until Dean noticed that the section of her tail which was clear of the water, looked very much as though it was beginning to change somehow. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be some trick of the phosphorescent light from the cavern walls. The mermaid's tail really _was_ separating and somehow starting to look much more like a pair of legs. Dean gazed up at the cavern roof.

"Seriously?"

-o-

There was no light at all in the water filled tunnel that the male Jenposson was swimming through. It didn't matter to him, he had swum this way so many times before. He knew he had reached his destination when the water surrounding him appeared to be more deep blue in colour rather than black. Looking up, the male saw the water appeared to get brighter way above him. He swam faster, heading upwards, checking off the different stages of improving vision until he broke the water's surface. As he did, he heard a grunt. Turning towards the sound, what he saw made him open his mouth wide and howl in anger, causing the female to look around and bark back at her fellow Jenposson, sounding much like a sea lion. Momentarily relieved, Dean peeled himself off the cavern wall that the female had shoved him against and stared beyond her. He froze at the sight of a muscular naked male striding across to the female where, coming to a halt, he slapped her across the face, glowering down at her as she prostrated herself on the floor at his feet, whining. Uncertain what the male's next move might be, Dean stayed motionless and quiet. He thought he might have a chance of making it past the male and to the pool, but he knew there was little point if he left either the male or the female able to come after him once he was in the water. On land, the female had proven to be an equal match for Dean's strength, his odds against them both were not the kind that Dean would bet on. The male raised his head and gazed at Dean. Unwilling to back down, Dean held the male's gaze, blinking in surprise when the male grinned and pointed at him.

"Brother."

-o-

Standing at the edge of the pool, Dean hesitated. Already in the water with his back to Dean, the male glanced over his shoulder at the Hunter. Lifting a hand he beckoned to Dean and nodded whilst pointing to his own fin. With a sigh of resignation, Dean at last dived into the bone chillingly cold water and swam up behind the male. The male waited whilst Dean took three or four deep breaths before taking in a final deep gulp of air and giving the male a nod.

-o-

Merrick had returned from finding more firewood and was busy building the fire up ready for if Dean was brought back to his brother. He had also donated his own long woollen frock coat that he wore and a couple of roughly woven blankets, he and Sam both aware that they'd need to get Dean out of his wet clothes. Once again Sam had both surprised and impressed Merrick by displaying no doubts at all that his brother _would_ return. Sam was retrieving dry clothing from Dean's backpack.

"It's a pity we won't be able to provide your brother with a hot drink."

"Not a problem, I'll just have to heat the water up in one mug and he can drink out the other."

Merrick nodded.

"I have the impression that the both of you are used to living like this?"

Sam looked up at Merrick.

"You certainly _could_ say that, though as a rule we don't generally give our cooking stuff away to any old Jenposson who happens to be in the area...And shouldn't they be back by now? What if he couldn't find Dean?"

"Stop Sam. Please, keep your faith my friend. We must both stay patient a little while longer."

The attention of both men instantly switched to the river when they heard a quiet voice, husky and hesitant from infrequent use, carried on the cool pre-dawn air.

"Brother_..._Give Lukmee, yes?"

-o-

"Dean!"

Sam and Merrick ran to the river's edge. Kneeling down, Sam reached out ready to grab hold of his brother as the Jenposson, one hand twisted around the out of shaped tee-shirt fabric at the back of Dean's neck, towed him close in to the banking. Dean was on his back in the water, his eyes closed, his skin looked too pale and the colour of his lips too dark. Merrick quickly knelt beside Sam and together they dragged Dean out of the water and up onto the grass. Water immediately began to soak the ground all around Dean's body as it dripped and drained from his water logged clothing and streamed out from his boots. The river creature rested his forearms on the bank side and watched in silence. Panicking, Sam leaned over Dean and put his finger's to his brother's neck over the site of his carotid artery, anxiously seeking a pulse. Dean turned his head away and blinked his eyes open, coughing to clear his throat.

"M'ff. Mm'fff, m'ffrwree ... _M'cold_."

Sam laughed out of sheer relief.

-o-

A simple metal bowl. It was a small price to pay for someone's life. Sam smiled as he watched the dark fin cutting through water now tinged pink by dawn's early light, until it disappeared beneath the river's surface. Turning, his smile grew broader at the sight of the dark bundle next to the fire which was all he could see of his teeth chattering, cantankerous older brother. A woe-be-gotten sound drifted from out of the depths of the heap, accompanied by the sight of something being waved in the air just above it, like a reflective flag.

"_Saammeeee!_ Wan' more _cofffeeee!_"

**-oOo-**


	18. Chapter 18

**C18**

-oOo-

Feeling warm and safe, Dean wasn't yet prepared to extricate himself out from under any of the layers of blankets and clothing that he was happily snuggled into. Peeking out from amongst it all, his gaze tracked Merrick's every movement as the man skinned and gutted a couple of rabbits that he had caught for breakfast. The early morning air was still cool, but the cloudless sky warned of another hot day to come. Merrick glanced up at Dean once and nodded at him, then devoted himself to his task, fully aware that the older of the two brothers was continuing to watch him. Sam came and sat beside Dean whilst he put together a rough frame from tree branches, ready for holding the carcasses over the fire to roast. He glanced down at Dean, seeing how his brother watched Merrick.

Although Sam kept his voice low, Merrick could still hear the brothers' conversation.

"He's not the enemy Dean. You can relax."

"You sure? Had he been following us again? Why didn't he just come into the open?"

"He wasn't following us. Well, he _was_, but not in a _following_ kinda way."

"You're startin' to sound like a Munchkin."

"I mean, he was looking for us. He's not with Crouch anymore, and apparently we made him curious. Oh boy. Stop giving me that look. All I can say is, he appeared at the right time and he's gonna know his way around. Right now that's good for us. Ok?"

"What _right time_? What's that supposed to mean? Somethin' happened that I don't know about, didn't it?"

Sam could have kicked himself.

"It was nothing. Leave it. Are you feeling ready to come out from under there yet?"

"Nope. I'm gonna stay right here till you tell me what happened."

"Anyone ever tell you you're a pain in the ass?"

-o-

Merrick smiled to himself listening to the brothers' interactions, and went about his business as Sam's voice dropped to a whisper whilst he relayed to his brother what had happened after Dean was taken.

-o-

"Merrick?"

Merrick looked up from having turned the rabbits, ensuring they were cooking evenly, and waited for whatever Dean had to say.

"Seems I owe you some thanks. So, _thank you_. For what you did for Sam? I'm glad you were around."

Merrick bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"As am I. And you are most welcome Dean."

-o-

The three ate in comfortable silence. Neither Sam or Dean had realised quite how hungry they both were and the rabbit was excellent. Dean glanced over at Sam, seeing that he had almost finished his share.

"Looks like you're enjoying that Sammy."

Sam nodded enthusiastically.

"S'good."

Dean was po-faced.

"Course, you _do_ realise that in this freaky place, that's probably Thumper you're enjoyin' gobblin'?"

Merrick helpfully thumped Sam on the back a few times after the younger man went red in the face, his eyes tearing as he burst into a violent fit of choking and coughing. Merrick wasn't quite sure what it was about Dean's statement that had caused such a reaction from Sam, but Dean was both innocently watching Sam and, at the same time, managing to look decidedly pleased with himself. Merrick assumed, wrongly, that it was something about the name Thumper that had effected Sam. He gave Sam a sympathetic look once the younger brother had gathered himself together.

"It seems that you must have loved this Thumper a great deal?"

Merrick stared, feeling way out of his depth, when his question only succeeded in drawing howls and tears of laughter from _both _Sam and Dean.

-o-

Finally Dean began, reluctantly, to shed layers from the eclectic pile of items that had been used to help raise his core temperature. Realising he had on a long length frock coat he stood up and began twisting and turning this way then that, clearly taken by the woollen coat.

"This' way cool. Hey, Sammy? What do you think? Dean Winchester, kickass highway man...Stand and deliver, your money or your wife!"

Sam laughed.

"You'd get the wife if she had a face like a rolled up pair of socks."

Starting to feel relaxed in the two men's company, Merrick laughed with them. Dean handed him his coat back.

"Thanks for the loan of it, and for everything else. Sam tells me you've left Crouch. What's your next move?"

Merrick shrugged nonchalantly.

"It depends very much on what attracts my interest."

Dean gave a nod.

"Heard of anything yet?"

"Perhaps. I hear there are two men who are seeking the Magenta Mage."

Sam wandered over to join them.

"Two men and a squirrel actually."

Dean glanced at his brother. Draped contentedly around his neck, was Brad. Dean's eyes narrowed.

"Strange. _I'd _heard it was two men and a part time, useless, crappy excuse for a rat."

"So as I was saying, I had wondered whether these two men and their...companion, might find use for another pair of hands? Someone who can take them in the right direction, and someone who could possibly be of assistance in their quest."

-o-

Grinlaff nervously knocked on the door to the Magenta Mage's private chambers.

"Enter."

The mage was standing with his hands behind his back, in front of a clutter topped oak desk. Grinlaff crept into the room, his whole body cringing.

"Ah. Grinlaff. I've been waiting for your update. How did things go? Might I assume my dungeon has it's new occupants?"

Grinlaff made a very poor liar, especially in front of the Magenta Mage, so he didn't bother.

"Hum. It does not Sir, I'm afraid. Hum. They got away from us. Just disappeared...Somehow."

"Is that right? Oh deary dear. How appallingly inconvenient for you... **_Guards_**!"

-o-

Everything in their lives occurred at a fixed time, without variation. Each day, meals were delivered at the same time on the dot, and whatever was served on the Mournday was, from that point on_, always_ served on a Maundy. Today was Friday, which meant a lunch of thin, bitter soup. Come the evening meal, there would be more of the bitter soup, but at that time it would be accompanied by a whole hunk of two day old bread to share between them. Added to the Friday excitement, instead of the usual tepid beaker of stale water, they were both allowed a small drop of watered down wine with their evening meal. Every day, the time was counted off by the delivery of those repetitively predictable meals. Both Dorothy and Charlie were fast becoming stir crazy, and dreadfully institutionalised. Their conversations revolved around little more than the comparison of this Wednesday's meal to the previous Wednesday's version, and updating each other on their bowel habits, there being little else to focus on. Previously, each day some distraction had been provided by visits from a friendly little squirrel who scampered easily up and down the wall of the tower where the two women were being held. He tried to bring some variety to the women's diet. Some days running up and down the tower walls twice, each time held grasped in his paw and clutched against his tiny chest would be one nut. On other days he would determinedly carry out his self inflicted task in order to present a single berry to each woman. He quickly learned which type of berries to avoid after having arrived at the high window with little more than a paw full of pulp and a bright purple stain all down his front which took three days to wear off.

-o-

At first, when their little friend accepted the task whispered into his ear by Dorothy, Charlie would spend the time between meals sat staring out of the small window, eager to spot Sam and Dean galloping heroically towards the tower upon their white steeds. After five days, she'd have happily accepted a slow plod on a pair of half dead donkeys. Now though, having reached day seven, she only occasionally glanced out of the window, she was monotonously stroppy to live with, and she'd sworn that if the two Hunters _ever _got there, she was going to give them both some serious _Charliepain_ for taking their own, sweet, time. And, if they'd forgotten the chocolate? She was pretty sure she could get parts of them, at least, wedged through the window. Of course, what she _wasn't_ adding into her time equations, was that is was Spring. So, as well as dutifully carrying out his errand, the squirrel also had other business to attend to, and it was _this_ important business that kinda got him sidetracked on occasions.

-o-

Dorothy looked up from the King size bed where she was stretched out on her back, flicking though an old Tractor fanzine for her sixty eighth time.

"Honey?...Please stop that annoying pacing. You'll be developing some unsightly corns or carbuncles; or whatever it is feet get. We've relied on a squirrel, all-be-it a cute one, a _squirrel_ to find it's way to your friends. It might not be them that's slow. We don't even know if the animal made it!"

There was the sound of a key being slotted into the keyhole of their prison door. Both women stared at the door in expectation as the key was turned, and the door was pushed cautiously open a little way.

**-oOo-**


	19. Chapter 19

**C19  
**-oOo-

"Sorry about this Grinlaff old mate, but you know how his Lordship gets when he's pissed off, and oh boy! Is_ he_ pissed off! Shouldn't wonder if we don't see you again in a hurry. Go on mate, in you get then. At least your other two cell mates're pretty! And the place's got a _lovely_ view out the window. You should take a look!"

"Hum. I'll make certain to do that Growsac. I, hum, surely will."

Charlie and Dorothy watched as the one door in and out of the tower opened a fraction more, just enough to allow a woebegone Munchkin to squeeze through the gap and into the main tower room.

"Right then. So, er, so-long Grinlaff me old mucker. I'll give Petwig your regards, shall I?"

Grinlaff turned to give the gap in the door a weak smile.

"Hum. Yes. Yes do. Of course. Hum. Well is she? The wife. And the kiddiwinckles, all healthy?"

Charlie gave her head a vigorous shake, realising she was standing around staring at an open door. She began to stride across the room, towards their escape opportunity.

"Hey _you_! I want a _word_ with you, Shorty!"

"_Kids'refine._! Sorry mate. _Gottarun_!"

Charlie's fingers wrapped around thin air as the door was hurriedly slammed too.

"_Dammit_! Damn and bother it! I'm a complete _idiot_! Sorry Dorothy. I should've made my move sooner."

Now intently focused on shortening her toenails, Dorothy didn't bother to look up, acknowledging Charlie instead by briefly waving her nail clippers in the air before getting back on with her task.

Grinlaff hadn't moved from his spot, he and Charlie stared at each other. Charlie put her hands on her hips, tilted her head to one side, and squinted down at the anxious Munchkin.

"Do I know you?"

-o-

Sam suddenly looked at Merrick very seriously.

"You know the way to the Magenta Mage? Are you saying you'll take us there?"

Merrick's face looked as though he were mulling over an invitation. He held it until it was clear Sam was about to burst, then smiled broadly and nodded.

"Yes, I am, and yes, I will. If you wish me to, that is?"

Dean stuck his hand out.

"Well then, Merrick, welcome on board. Guess we should fill you in on why we're wanting to find old Magenta?"

-o-

The lack of proper down time was beginning to tell on Sam and Dean as the sun moved higher in the sky and the day gradually became hotter. In particular, Dean was finding it hard to inhale the warm air through airways and into lungs that were weakened by his prior near drowning experience. The feel of the down draft creating a breeze around him was, therefore, extremely welcome. Much more welcome than the toe curling high pitched squeal that followed the breeze and accompanied the large, dark shadow which touched them all. Two pairs of startled eyes gazed upwards. Dean was the first to remember how to synchronise lip movement, sound and words.

"Just curious but, anyone else see a Griffin do an overhead fly-by?"

Sam and Dean both looked towards their new companion, who simply gazed back in return, looking slightly puzzled.

"What? Have I disgraced my self already?"

Sam pointed in the direction of what was now just a distant dark speck.

"That _was_ a Griffin, right?"

Merrick shrugged.

"Obviously. Why do you ask?"

Dean grinned. From Merrick's confused but clearly unpanicked response, he figured that here in Oz the creatures weren't viewed as a danger and held little significance. Given their encounters so far, Dean found himself almost unsurprised that Griffins were viewed no differently to any other bird.

"It's nothin' important. In fact, it's embarrassing really. See, my brother's one of those weirdo's who have a thing about wanderin' around hopin' for an opportunity to point at a dickybird or two. I've tried talkin' to him about it, but it's become a habit."

"Really? A pointing at birds habit? Why? For what purpose?"

Sam shot Dean a _Thanks_ glare.

"Um, because they, er, I like, um, they're...pretty?"

Dean snorted, Merrick assumed because Dean had little regard for Sam's strange desire to point at birds. Gazing at his fellow adventurer's, he could clearly see how weary both the brother's looked, and recognised how that same weariness could easily lead them into an irritable brother on brother bickering session, likely causing friction or delay. He changed the subject quickly.

"We should be arriving at our destination by late afternoon. I assume you have both reached an agreement on how you intend to extract Dorothy and your friend from the MageTower? Tell me. In what way would you like me to assist?"

-o-

Merrick was clearly horrified.

"My friends, the Magenta Mage is a powerful man, not to be under estimated. I have to advise you, it would be foolhardy indeed to meet him unprepared! Tell me, are you yet feeling thirsty? I would most _certainly _be glad of a drink and food right now, and some time to agree how we can best approach this quest of yours."

Sam nodded.

"I could do with a break, and I know you're struggling Dean, I can hear you're not breathing properly so don't bother giving me any _I'm fine_ cr...!"

Sam's sentence died on his lips, making Dean glance back over his shoulder to check what was causing his brother's bug eyed look.

"_Holy shit_!"

"The bar is _open_ good sir's. What can I...? _Oh_. I _do_ declare! 'Tis my own sweet scallywag, come back to visit little me! Lawks and a lummy. Let me gaze upon you my heart's delight, and sing of my joy that you stand here before me once again ... _Fal la la! My love he has travelled far. But now how I cheer. For my love, he is once more here. Hey hey hey! He had to go away. But how I smile again, when, my love is near..."_

"Oh, bugger."

-o-

Dean made no attempt what-so-ever to hide his amusement as he nudged his petrified looking younger brother.

"You need some alone time with her? 'Cos me and Merrick, we can have our drinks out here, no problem."

Sam gave the warbling barmaid a gritted teeth smile, not moving his lips as he muttered to Dean _You not goin' anyhair. You stayin' wiv nee! An' stoc laffin' for I kill u... Helck nee out!_

Stiffeling his giggles, Dean stepped in front of Sam, both hands raised as he approached Mopcap, who was still slaughtering the appalling love song.

"Hey, lady...Pipe down will you? I can't let you carry on making a fool of yourself like this. My brother's just not worth it. Really. He's betrayed you my lady. He's er, _wed_ _another_. That's right. He's met someone else, an' he's married 'em."

"... _beg him to stay, and not to go aw_... ! ... He _what_?"

Mopcap's demeanour changed and Dean began to wonder whether he'd made a very bad mistake?

"He er, he got married I'm afraid."

Hands on her hips, the barmaid glared angrily at Dean.

"Oh, he _did_, did he!"

The barmaid twisted, leaned over, bent forward, side stepped, back stepped, stood on tip-toe; but Dean danced right along with her, maintaining his blocking of her access to Sam. She cried out to Sam whilst standing at the Dean barrier.

"My deary dear one! How _could_ you? How _could you_!"

The woman sounded distraught and Sam began to feel guilty, although he'd nothing to feel guilty about. He moved out from behind the protective shield that was Dean, and regretted it in the same instant that Dean realised what an error of judgement he'd made in telling Mopcap that Sam had married. The moment the barmaid clapped eyes on Sam, her distress seemed to vanish. Her eyes narrowed down to slits, her nostrils flared wide, giving her the look of a vengeful piglet, an ugly twist re-shaped her lips, and her voice became guttural, harsh, and very, _very _loud.

_"__You be a rat finked barstool_, indeedy do so you are! How _dare _you? How _dare_ you cheats on me? Who's this little_ slutty_ you've wed? _Does she carry your brat_? So, there's the truth of it. You went an' you dipped your quill into some other whorrit's ink bottle, right after leaving poor me awaiting pantin' for your returns. Even keepin' miself fresh for you an' all! You know 'ow much water I's 'ad to sit in? Begettin' babychild with some other _tartlet_! Then _weddin_' the _spatula!_ I wants me pound o' flesh out o' you boy, I does. An' me's thinkin' I'll 'ave it right eerie an' _now _you, you..._Spickwink_! ... **_Mă auzi cele intunecate, acondarea ca care I acum cererii..."_**

**-oOo-**


	20. Chapter 20

-oOo-  
**TO ALL****READERS  
****Yellow Brick Road****Trip  
****URGENT : AUTHOR'S ALERT**!

**At last**, one of you has wandered into a Chick Fic Trap...Haven't you,  
**janiekm**?  
Evil laughter aside, being the sweet natured person I am (!) I've given her  
all the information she needs to do the job. HOWEVER, should she not  
complete or, in the unlikely event she's fails despite her attempts,  
**one of the Winchester****brothers will not survive this road trip**.  
She has until I post the penultimate chapter of this fic,  
(Yes, that's plenty of time for her to complete a successful hunt.)  
**So, janiekm, the life of one Winchester****is now in your hands!  
****Bwaa Haaa Haaa Haaaaaaaa  
**Normal transmission will return soon :D  
Chick xxxx  
-oOo-

_Anyone wanting to how this happened,  
__and what has to be done, see latest  
__reviews __from janiekm and my reply ._


	21. Chapter 21

**_WELL_****_DONE jamiekm!_**

**C21**

-oOo-

There was a distinct thud and the barmaid's mop cap fell off as her decapitated head hit the ground and rolled three times before coming to a stop lying sideways on. Merrick sheathed his sword and moved over to the Barmaid's head. He got down on one knee and calmly closed the unseeing eyes.

"She won't be giving you any more trouble now. What would you both like to drink? I'm paying. Shall I bring the food menu out with me?"

Still staring at the head, Dean spoke up.

"Double whisky. Medicinal reasons."

"What about you Sam?"

"Just water. Queasy stomach reasons."

-o-

Merrick soon returned with the water.

"Here you go Sam. The barmaid will be out shortly with the other drinks and a menu. Shall we sit ourselves at a table, like gentlemen?"

Sam simply hadn't got it in him right then to wonder at the table which looked as if it had always been there. He wandered slowly over to it and pulled out a chair. Sitting down, he couldn't stop himself from turning to stare at Mopcap's two part corpse. Dean knew his brother well enough not to disturb him whilst he was like this. He recognised that Sam was trying to acclimatise himself to the sudden turn of events. His brother needed some time to reconcile things for himself.

"You don't intend for us to just leave her out here and eat lunch staring at her corpse, surely?"

Sam's query was clearly addressed to Merrick and, for now, Dean was happy to stay quiet. Merrick sensed that it wouldn't take much more to push Sam from shock and anxiety into angry action.

"Sam? Just give it a moment please. I promise you the situation will be dealt with."

-o-

Dean closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. _Here we go_. Sam fixed his gaze onto Merrick, his eyes narrowing. When Sam spoke, his voice had altered, although he sounded calm, his tone was flat, monotonous.

"I see. And are you planning on sharing just how the...situation...will get dealt with? Oh, and maybe you can recommend something from the menu when it arrives. You know. Something to accompany a side order of fresh corpse?"

Dean managed to catch Merrick's eye very briefly and gave the man a minute shake of his head. Merrick didn't need the warning. Sam was getting ready to blow and, rightly or wrongly, he was the younger man's target. Only Dean turned to look when the door to the tavern opened. Slack jawed, he prodded his brother, breaking the hard glare that Sam had continued to direct at Merrick.

"Sammy. Look!"

-o-

Sam duly looked. And looked again.

"What the?"

Jogging in step over the grass came eight Munchkins in a formation of four on either side of the white stretcher they were carrying. They paid no attention at all to the three men sat at the outdoor table.

"Clean up Crew. I asked that you give it a moment. It's not over yet."

Merrick was right.

Pulling up next to Mopcap's body, the Munchins jogged on the spot for a moment, until one who headed up a line of four squeaked out.

"Clean up crew, crew. _Desist movement_!"

Whilst the rest stood to attention, eyes forward, the squeaker stepped away from his stretcher position and took a look at the corpse. The little chap gave an audible sigh before scanning around, his eyes coming to rest on Mopcap's detached head.

"Ah ha! ha!"

The apparent leader turned to face back to the tavern.

"Crew Two too. Snap, snap to it!"

Fascinated, Sam and Dean watched as a further pair of Munchkins emerged at a dignified jog out of the tavern building holding something between them. The lead Munchkin pointed a finger at the head of the barmaid.

"Crew Two to disengaged, disengaged item! ... On my count Crew One, Crew One and Crew two too, retrieve. _My, my count_!"

Like a well oiled machine, the two crews each moved to their designated body part and, with some puffing and panting, Crew One managed to get the longer stretcher under Mopcap's body, leaving Crew Two to reverently lift her head and place it on to their one foot square stretcher, thereafter both crews stood patiently awaiting their next command. The leader returned to take up his position back at the longer stretcher.

"Crew One, Crew Two, two. _Perambulate_!"

Again keeping perfectly in step with each other, the Munchkins trooped off back to the tavern and disappeared inside, one returning very briefly to slam the door closed again.

-o-

Merrick didn't know it, but he was witness to an ultra rare moment in the lives of the two Winchester brothers, a moment in which both the Hunters were stunned into speechlessness for a few seconds. Within that same few seconds, the tavern door opened again, and the barmaid scurried out carrying a tray bearing drinks and a hand written menu. She gave her three gentlemen customers a beaming smile from under her mop cap.

"Lord and a lawks. Would you just take a look at yourselves now? It's fair overcome I is to have three such fine looking sirs grace this old Travellinn. I swear-dee-do I mayhap come over quaite faint! A dheli-kate rosy flush just maite happear sans face. I do declare I do! I'll wager each one of all of you see someone wet and juicy you fancy. Be I right? Be I? Oooo, lummy! Dids you ear meself? _Wet and juicy_ says I! B'aint I a naughty girl sirs? I really yam, b'ain't I?"

The barmaid looked the same, she spoke in the same dumb and irritating way, yet she seemed to have no recollection of having met any of the three men before. Dean leaned over and gently banged his forehead on the table top three or four times, exactly as he had after meeting Mopcap for the very first time.

**-oOo-**


	22. Chapter 22

**C22**

-oOo-

The threesome sat huddled together, heads bowed, looking at the rough sketch on the back of the tavern menu that Merrick had drawn of the MageTower and surrounding area.

"This right here will be the danger zone. As you can see, the forest ends before it reaches the tower where your friend will be. From there-on-in we will be out in the open, clearly visible to anyone who cares to look. We don't have any alternative. We'll have to cross that area of open ground to reach the base of the tower. Tell me, what were you planning to do assuming you did reach the tower? Was it your intention to climb up it's exterior somehow? Because this window here, right at the top, is the room where we will find the women and, I have to say, we've no idea whether the window opening is actually large enough to allow entry, or exit."

Dean grimaced, he didn't even want to know how high the tower was. The very word "tower" told him it was _too_ high.

"No. No way're we gonna try that. We'll have to get inside. I'm assuming the place will be guarded?"

"It will."

"Numbers?"

"Unknown. But I guarantee it will either be guarded by the Magenta Mage's troops, or by magic. Or maybe even both?"

"You just cover your options there dude! Actually, there's an important lesson that you need to be aware of here Merrick. When you're working with the Winchesters, always expect to come up against the worst case scenario. We call it the Winchester luck, right Sammy?"

-o-

Sam hadn't spoken much since setting eyes on the renewed Mopcap. He had been concentrating instead on trying hard to force himself to shrink. Trying to make himself seem totally unappealing to her in comparison to Dean and Merrick, just in case.

"Sorry? What? Oh, yeah. _Winchester__luck_. Most often it's the bad kind of luck. So inside this tower? You can be 97% _certain_ that we'll be facing off against both physical guards _and_ magic. Don't suppose you've got any kind of protection against magic?"

Merrick sat up straight and considered his two companions before speaking.

"Look, my friends. I very rarely ask people to trust me and to tell me about themselves. I appreciate it when people respect my own privacy. Therefore I try always to respect the privacy of others, unless I am working and, therefore, have need to know something of my chosen target. But you two? If I'm honest, I find you _both_ very confusing. I surmise that you are both comfortable with a variety of weapons of different types, and I have noted how the fact that the existence of magic here in Oz has not caused you neither surprise nor concern. I must, then, assume you have both faced magic previously? In fact, I have to say that this whole alternate world idea appears to not be new to you and has calmly been accepted by you both. That, along with the way I have watched you deal with the things you have seen and done here? I don't mind admitting, it's made me wonder what you both _do_ in your own world? Who you are when you're back there?"

Sam glanced at his brother, who nodded, giving his permission. Sam faced Merrick again.

-o-

"In our world we're called Hunters and the vast majority of _normal _people know nothing about either Hunters, or us. Our job is to hunt down and kill those things that simply don't exist as far as they're concerned. I'm talking evil things, things we consider to be monsters. Where we come from? Griffins, Mage's? Magic? Those thing's are not a part of normal everyday lives. The Jenposson? Back home we call them mermaids and mermen, nymphs and water sprites. Things like this only exist in fantasy as made up stories. Fairy Tales, written in books that are, primarily, for children. And by the way, despite the phrase "Fairy tales", our people don't, as a rule, believe that fairies really exist either, as well as a whole load of other things that people term Supernatural. Like ghosts, spirits, human's that turn into dangerous animals, dragons and such. We try to help people who are being threatened by these kinds of things. We try to get rid of them, kill them. There are other Hunter's who do the same job as us and many of us either know or have heard of one another. Especially, for some reason, Dean and myself. Maybe because we've been raised to this life, trained for it by our dad since we were very young and our mother was killed by a daemon. Dean and I have both had some extremely strange experiences, been to places even you wouldn't believe. This place, Oz, back home it's just a place from someone's imagination who wrote it down purely as a story. One that people commonly refer to as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

Dean grinned.

"If ever a whiz of a wizard there woz.™"

Merrick looked from one brother to the next.

"And Kansas?"

Dean frowned.

"Where've you heard that from?"

"Dorothy. I've never met her, but like most everybody, I've heard of her and the legend that tells of her arriving here as a girl from another world called Kansas, and that she wore red shoes. Is it true?"

Dean nodded.

"I guess, the part about her coming from Kansas anyways. Couldn't say about the shoes. Kansas isn't a world though, it's just a place _in_ our world. And now you mention it, kinda funny I've not thought about it till now but, Sam and me? _We're_ both from Kansas too."

Merrick look thoughtful briefly, then smiled suddenly.

"Perhaps it is only the good people of Kansas that have the power to travel here?"

Sam laughed.

"Yeah, you could be right. Hey, maybe the two places should officially be twinned up?"

-o-

Lunch was a quick, but satisfyingly filling affair with all three drawing whole paragraphs of admiring and delighted gobbledegook from Mopcap by the hearty way in which they devoured everything they ordered. Dean figured the way that even his uncalled for mixed salad appealed and was demolished must be a reflection on all the walking he was having to do. He then went on to make a previously overlooked link between walking and obesity. That being the following : Walking, _especially_ when done for exercise or so called pleasure, was to be avoided at all costs, as it _clearly_ had the very real potential to cause a person to eat too much and as a result, be more likely to become morbidly obese. Dean pointed out his new evidence based theory to Sam, who was lost for words, which Dean took to be Sam's agreement with and support for his newly devised _Don't Walk_ campaign. Dean then turned his attention onto a bemused Merrick and tried to persuade the man to sign up. It was around that point that Merrick made the silent decision to finally give up on his attempts to understand and to know Dean Winchester, seeing in him something that Sam had known all his life but very few other people ever realised, the reality that Dean was an extremely complex character, almost an anomaly.

**-oOo-**


	23. Chapter 23

**C23**

-oOo-

Before leaving the Travellinn, Sam sat Brad on the table in front of him and looked seriously into the squirrels bright-as-a-button eyes, telling the little animal to stay close and not wander off because they had a very important job for him once they got close to the Mage tower. Merrick and Dean were already standing side by side on the yellow brick road, waiting. Dean watched incredulously, both at the embarrassing never to be spoken of in public sight of his giant sized fearsome Hunter brother having a quiet word with a squirrel, and because the damn squirrel had it's gaze fixed attentively up at Sam's face, like it was actually listening! Dean nudged Merrick and murmured quietly to him.

"You know, in our world, back in the day, that kind of display would've had Sammy burnt at the stake in double quick time. In fact, I'm wondering whether I should start collecting kindling as we go? Course, than there's that other little problem."

Enjoying himself, Merrick matched his volume to Dean's.

"To which little problem do you refer Dean?"

Dean glanced briefly at Merrick before returning to watching his brother petting Brad.

"Well, you know how kids can be. He's gonna want to keep it soon as I tell him it's time to say bye-bye 'cos we're going home. I _guarantee _there'll be tears and tantrums, maybe even some foot stompin'. It's gonna be a pathetic sight really. Red eyes, runny nose...And _that's_ just the squirrel!"

-o-

Sam turned at the sound of Merrick erupting with laughter, and immediately directed a glare at Dean, who in return shrugged, his face a picture of innocence.

"You and that cousin-to-a-rat about ready? Or do you both need some quiet time together?"

Sam, squirrel clinging to his shoulder and chittering angrily in Dean's direction, strode over, blatantly ignoring Merrick's laughing splutters and hiccups.

"Don't dismiss this so quickly Dean. If Brad understood enough to be able to find his way to us and then shove a note he's carried all the way under the right door, who's to say he doesn't understand that we need him to stick around ready for when we're getting close to the Mage Tower?"

Dean stuck out his bottom lip thoughtfully. His brother had a valid point. Merrick's laughter stuttered to a halt.

"I'm sorry. Sam? _What_ did you say this little animal managed to do? Surely I misheard?"

-o-

Grinlaff had been given the short guided tour of the locked tower room and Charlie had kindly helped him make up a pallet for his bed. Though grateful, the Munchkin hadn't been overly communicative, and since then, had sat in the chair that Charlie left standing by the one window opening, staring sombrely outside. Laying on the bed, Charlie gave Dorothy a nudge, almost causing the woman to misapply her nail varnish.

"Go over there and see if he'll talk to you."

Dorothy glanced at the Munchkin's back.

"Why me?"

Charlie sighed. Since they had been kept prisoner in the tower, Dorothy had seemingly become content just to pass her days lazing around not doing much of anything, not that there was much to do if Charlie was honest about it.

"Because you're _Dorothy_! Go on. Poor little thing looks miserable as Hell."

Dorothy sighed, but hauled herself off the bed and wandered across to the miserable Munchkin.

"Hi. You ok there? Only my friend's worried about you."

Sad eyes looked up at Dorothy.

"Hum. Please Miss. Hum. Tell your friend _not_ to worry. I am always well behaved and, hum, I don't _think_ I snore. I've definitely never kept myself awake by snoring. So I probably don't...Snore that is."

Dorothy shook her head.

"I'm sorry. What I meant to say is that my friend is worried _for_ you, not that she's worried _about_ you. She thinks you might be sad about something. Are you sad?"

Dorothy was horrified to see the Munchkin's eyes instantly fill with tears and she quickly knelt down in front of him.

"Hey, hey! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you!"

Grinlaff tried, unsuccessfully, to blink back his tears.

"Hum. Please Miss? It's very kind of you and your friend to use some of your own precious time to worry about me. People don't usually, hum. Worry about me that is. May I, hum, introduce my self? The name I carry and what others call me is Grinlaff, Miss. Hum. Accept for the Miss bit on the end. Miss is you, I, hum, am just Grinlaff, Miss. Hum, hum. That last part? The Miss part? That, hum, still isn't m..."

Dorothy was an old hand at dealing with Munchkins, and she knew how extraordinarily long this kind of speech spasm could last unless she broke the cycle the poor thing had got itself locked into. Dorothy held up her hand, signalling her intent to speak. Munchkin etiquette allowed speaking over other people, but only if you held up your hand before doing so.

_"_Hello Grinlaff...(_pause for a count of three__*****_)...My name is Dorothy. And my friend over there? Her name is Charlie."

*****_Without the pause, it was a distinct possibility that the Munchkin would start attempting to correct her mistake. The one where he thought she thought he was called "Grinlaff My-Name-Is Dorothy." ((Anyone out there know if this Munchkin thing is catching?))_

Grinlaff sniffed and nodded at Dorothy.

"That is correct."

It was no surprise to Dorothy that Grinlaff recognised her, it was rare she met a Munchkin who _didn't _already know who she was. Grinlaff leaned forward, placing his hand sideways on to his mouth, a Munchkin signal designed to indicate to whatever or whoever was going to be gossiped about, that they shouldn't listen.

"I am curious to, hum, know. Were his parents _very_ disappointed?"

On the bed, Charlie rolled her eye's and began flicking through the tattered Tractor fanzine. She'd heard all this before, the issue of _her_ had been a sticking point ever since she made the decision to leave her own dreary world behind, and follow Dorothy into Oz.

"No. Her parent's weren't disappointed at all, Grinlaff. They were very happy and they loved her right from the start."

Grinlaff looked surprised.

"Even though he came out wrong?"

-o-

Over the years, Dorothy had developed a unique level of patience and tolerance towards the Munchkin people. One that Charlie could only admire, but found she couldn't always emulate.

"She didn't come out wrong. Charlie was born exactly right, everything her parents had wished for."

Internally, Dorothy groaned and kicked herself, preparing to hold up her hand.

"His parents _wished_ for him to be that...?"

"Where she comes from, Charlie is a _girl's_ name. _She_ is female."

Grinlaff leaned even closer to Dorothy and raised his voice conspiritaly.

"You know, hum. I had heard that about him."

From the bed came the sound of Charlie clearing her throat. Dorothy duly changed the topic.

"So, Grinlaff. Why have _you_ been locked up in here?"

**-oOo-**


	24. Chapter 24

**C24**

-oO0o

Merrick was amazed at the tale of Brad carrying and delivering Charlie's plea for help. He reached out a hand to pet the little creature, and had to withdraw sharply when Brad attempted to sink his teeth into Merrick's finger, before executing a flying leap off Sam's shoulder to the ground and scampering away, heading straight towards a copse of white pine. Sam tried calling the creature back, shouting the name he gave it just once, then clamming up and cringing as he quickly looked around for any newcomers intent on stopping off for a drink, and who may have heard him. Not only were there no signs of other prospective customers, there was no longer a tavern either. The Travellinn had quietly disappeared, gone to answer the call of the truly thirsty and those who were hungry. Dean glared at Sam.

"That thing's crazy. Have you even bothered to think that it might have rabies?"

"No. Have you?"

"Has it ever bit you Sammy?"

"Of course not!"

"You'd better be telling the truth...'Cos if you start to froth and go all Cujo? You're off to the vets to be put down. Got that?"

"Dean. If ever the day comes when I develop the urge to froth? I promise you, I'll make _certain _that you're the very first person I come looking for."

-o-

Once again Merrick stepped in to placate a rising storm.

"Rest assured both of you, I am fine. The animal missed me and I personally feel no desire to froth. Can I suggest we be on our way gentlemen? We follow the yellow brick road for a while yet, then we must leave it and head over rougher terrain where there is slightly less chance of us being intercepted by any of the Mage's scouts."

Dean's ears pricked up at Merrick's words.

"_Less_ chance. Isn't there a route where there's _no_ chance of us being intercepted?"

Merrick shrugged.

"Not since you mentioned the Magenta Mage to Crouch and his cronies, then undermined his position by escaping from his prison, threatened him, made him feed you and then forced him to give two of his horses to you."

Dean's expression remained neutral.

"There's that I suppose."

Sam, however, was slightly less lassai-fair about Merrick's insight.

"So, you believe Crouch will have forewarned the Mage about us? And you didn't think to mention this earlier because..?"

Merrick frowned.

"Because I assumed men like you wouldn't _need_ to be told the obvious, and because I assumed it wouldn't have stopped you from going to the aid of your friend, would it?"

"Oh...You're _kiddin_' me! Those damn skanky, two faced, double dealin,' devious little_ Munchkins!"_

-o-

Merrick and Sam both turned to Dean.

"_That's_ why they wanted us to _oh so politely_ let them take us prisoner Sammy! The Munchkins have gone dark side! That first lot we saw? Back in the forest? I'd bet my baby...Well, my baby's spare tyre at least, that they're on his payroll. _My_ guess is Crouch got a message to old Magenta eyes, who sent the Munchkins after us. They were supposed to take us back with them, and hand us over to him."

Merrick looked horrified.

"My friend, I must disagree. The Munchkins would _never_ willingly comply with such a demand! Whatever the cost to themselves."

Sam watched Merrick carefully.

"They would, if it meant getting back something or someone that means a lot to them. They might _hate _doing it, hate following the Mage's orders but I'd guess that, given no alternative, saving one of their own would outweigh saving two complete strangers."

Merrick considered Sam's words, weighing up the potential truth in them. Suddenly his head jerked up and he stared at the brothers.

"No. _Not_ one of their own...What they did? I'm betting they did it to keep _Dorothy _safe from whatever the Mage threatened he would do to her."

-o-

Grinlaff was keeping a close eye on the male Charlie who was allegedly a woman. He remembered hearing about this odd way of walking being described in the legend of Dorothy, but he'd never actually seen it in reality and being used by an actual human. _Skipping_ was the name it was given, and he could see it's usefulness. This Charlie creature was certainly able to move faster by utilising the skipping, although clearly, she wasn't able to go far, mostly back and forth. He wondered of the squealing was mandatory? He hadn't heard it mentioned previously as being part of the method, but the Charlie person certainly seemed to believe it was a necessary accompaniment.

-o-

Starting to make herself feel dizzy, Charlie diverted from her excited skipping across the main tower room and back singing _My boys are_ _coming, my boys are coming,_ and carried out a flying leap onto the bed, where Dorothy sat laughing and clapping along in time to Charlie's chant. Charlie hit the bed on all fours and beaming at Dorothy.

"You just wait Dorothy. They're _so_ gonna kick old Magenta's ass!"

Dorothy instantly glanced across at the confused looking Munchkin and shook her head, giving him a very stern _Not a word!_ look.

"It's not the way it sounds, ok? I promise, there will be no harm come to any donkeys Grinlaff. Alright?"

-o-

Charlie rolled onto her back giggling.

"_Bum_, Grinlaff. Sam and Dean are gonna kick his bum, fanny, behind, posterior, derriere, backside, arse, rear end, bottom, butt..._Ass_!"

Dorothy thoughtfully translated Charlie excited babble.

"She mean's his _sitton_."

Grinlaff gave a nod and a weak smile, his head was starting to hurt him with all this noise. He said nothing, but thought that it seemed a little odd that two otherworlder's should make such a journey, just to give the Mage's sitton a kick. He simply couldn't see why Dorothy and the Charlie were so overjoyed or, in fact, why the Mage himself had bothered to set all this up in the first place if all he wanted was someone to kick his sitton. All the Mage had to do was ask, and Grinlaff would have been only too happy to carry out the required task, _and_ been willing to carry on kicking until the Mage felt he had got it just right. Then maybe the Mage would have let them all go home much sooner, happy at a job well done.

Grinlaff's thoughts were distracted when his sharp little ears picked up the sound of a key turning in a latch and he turned his attention to the door whilst, unaware they were about to have a visitor, his fellow prisoners continued chatting and laughing together.

**-oOo-**


	25. Chapter 25

**C25**

-oOo-

"Well, well. How uncommon it is to hear the happy sound of prisoner's laughter! Might one be permitted to share in the jest?"

Silence abruptly descended in the tower room at the Magenta Mage's words. Grinlaff jumped down off his chair and stood rigidly to attention. Charlie and Dorothy separated and sat upright on the bed, Dorothy unconsciously patting her hair back in place. The Mage swept his gaze over each of his three prisoners.

"Not feeling like sharing? Such a shame. I would have appreciated something to laugh about. Oh, wait a minute..._Why_! I do believe I have _already_ had news which caused my frown to turn itself upside down briefly. Would anyone like to know what my jolly bit of news was?"

Charlie began to feel the first tremors of anxiety, it wasn't possible, it couldn't be about...? She glanced at Dorothy, who was looking at the Mage calmly.

"Ohhh, let me have a guess! I know. Someone's told you it's your birthday and it's traditional on your birthday to set free anyone you're holding prisoner in a tower. Am I close?"

The Mage gave Dorothy a humourless smile.

"Wouldn't that be just lovely my dear? Unfortunately for you, that's not the case. My news is that I became aware of talk about two strangers wandering around Oz. Now it seems that they are on actually on their way here, and getting closer. Isn't that exciting? Visitors, coming to see _me_. Of course, that means there is work to be done, in order to greet them properly. But, I already have a few ideas on how I could make them feel welcome. I am dispatching an armed escort to, er, _intercept_? No. _Meet_? Yes! _That's_ what I meant, to _meet_ them, and to ensure they don't get lost trying to find their way here. Isn't that kind of me? ... Anyway, I just wanted to pop by to say hello and to share my exciting news. Do please continue with whatever it is you were all so happy about before I interrupted you."

The Mage turned to the Munchkin and gave him a brief nod of acknowledgement.

"Grinlaff."

Turning on his heels, the Mage swept out of the room, his luxurious magenta robes swirling behind him in the way he had practiced over and over again until he felt he had the amount of sweepage just right.

-o-

Charlie viciously punched and pounded at a pillow.

"_Son-of-a-bitch_! They're walking into a trap and there's no way I can warn them...Oh...Unless?"

Dorothy watched Charlie keenly, she recognised the unblinking look in the other woman's eyes. Charlie was considering some idea that she'd had, mapping it out, looking for the risks, weighing those up against the potential gains. Dorothy followed the direction of Charlie's gaze, seeing nothing special, just their own rumpled bedclothes. Puzzled, Dorothy turned back to Charlie.

"Charlie girl? What's going on in that pretty head of yours? Are you going to let me in on it sometime soon?"

Charlie gave a quick shake of her upper body, opened her eyes and grinned.

"Soon as you need to know. In fact, I'm going to do better than that. You and Grinlaff are going to help me put it into action. Grinlaff? Come and sit with us, while I explain my idea to you both."

-o-

Dean was now heartily sick of the colour yellow. Whereas in the beginning the yellow brick road had looked sort of cheerful and kooky, now it just made him think of walking on the surface of lumpy custard, or along a never ending, utterly monotonous, garden path that was suffering from a severe case of jaundice. He'd love to have been able to get his boots nice and muddy, just so he could leave dark, dirty footprints all over it. _Course,_ he decided, _in this place there's probably some kinda Road Clean-up Crew sittin' up a tree who'd slide down it's trunk, then two step on over here with their mops shouldered and buckets of soapy water at their side. _He kicked at one of the bricks with the toe of his boot, a childish mean streak deep inside him wanting to see the brick break, crack or even just chip a little bit.. All he got was scuff marks on his boot; and the knowledge that he loathed the colour yellow even more. Up ahead, Sam and Merrick were engrossed in conversation whilst Sam explained to Merrick what a Hunter was. Sam had been fascinated to hear that there was no such things as ghosts or spirits in Oz, immediately curious about what "Ozanians" believed happened after death? And what about if someone from his and Dean's world died while they were in Oz? Dean knew _that_ one would keep Sam's mind occupied for a long while, possibly even for days! Hearing a scurrying, rustling sound to his left, Dean stared at the rough, overgrown edge of a borage field, his keen eyes looking for grass that was moving when everything around it was not, or the head of a bright blue flowered borage plant twitching in a way that said something had nudged it's stem in passing. Seeing nothing, he was about to turn away, when the same noise came from the rough edge a couple of yards behind where Dean had been looking. Slowly and without a sound, Dean side stepped back to the area and leaned over slightly, looking for any signs of _so-goin'-to-wring-it's-neck_ squirrel activity.

-o-

Sam loved the theory.

"So your essence leaves your body and joins with the essence of the first bird to pass by?"

Merrick nodded.

"In a nutshell, yes. That's why there is so many birds of so many kind in Oz, no one kills or hunts them, in case the bird carries the essence of a friend or family member. That and the instant death penalty which is carried out underground and the body sealed up down there, so the essence cannot move on."

Sam looked confused.

"But, then you _do_ have ghosts and spirits, they're just trapped underground. Kinda like those who end up in Hell in our world. And, what about when the bird carrying your essence dies? What then?"

Merrick chuckled.

"Isn't it obvious? Your essence transfers into the _next _bird of course. And those offenders who are executed and sealed underground? After a few weeks, they aren't."

"Sorry? They aren't what?"

Merrick shrugged.

"They just..._Aren't._"

"Aren't there?"

"Aren't at _all,_ they cease. We think they just shrink out of existence, become nothing, nowhere, simply end. A terrible fate. As for birds? Who knows what happens to the essence of _any_ creature. Some believe they actually move into _us_ and become landbound. Some that they move on to some other animal, and there are those who believe every creature's essence goes nowhere, also simply ceasing to be, although that then leads to the question regarding the fate of any other essence the bird may have been carrying. Then, of course, there are the radical thinkers, who say no creature actually _has_ an essence, that they're not worthy of one in the eyes of the all knowing, all seeing, Author. I think, Sam, that it would perhaps be easier for you to understand if you read the Wonderful Book. It explains everything. How Oz came to be, how the Munchkins were born, my kind, the Jenposson, everyone and everything, how we _all _became and how the land, and therefore all inhabiting Oz, will eventually come to an end."

"You mentioned an all knowing, all seeing Author?"

"Some call him The Creator. I prefer The Author. Before him, we are taught there was nothing. Oz simply did not exist."

Sam had begun to open his mouth to respond, when he and Merrick were distracted by the sudden sound of a shocked cry, one that managed to disturb a handful of pale pink birds from a field just ahead.

-o-

Turning quickly, Sam saw his brother bending over at the waist, one hand flat against the top of his thigh; the other hand Dean was rubbing over his face as he forced his rapid breathing to calm down. He looked like a man who had just run a half marathon without prior workouts. Glancing at one another, Sam and Merrick began running back to Dean. Hearing their rapid footfalls, Dean held a hand up, signalling he was ok as he stood himself upright again.

"S'ok. I'm ok."

Arriving by Dean's side, Sam looked his brother over in concern.

"What is it Dean? What happened?"

**-oOo-  
**_Reviews help to keep Munchkin appearances to a minimum! ;p_


	26. Chapter 26

**C26**

-oOo-

Dean looked to Sam, with a suspicion arousing _Nothin_', _I'm totally innocent_ expression pasted on his face.

"I've told you both, I'm ok, just a..._Cramp_...in my leg. Right? Shall we continue gentlemen?"

Sam's eyes narrowed.

"S'funny, but you sounded more shocked than in pain ."

"What can I tell you? It was a shockin' kinda pain? I'm fine, drop it."

Standing behind Sam, Merrick made an _Ah-haa _sound. Sam turned.

"What _Ah-Haa_?"

Merrick pointed to a flat stretch of land between the field they were standing by, and the next one along.

"Would _that _be your um, _cramp _Dean, making a run for the next field?"

-o-

Sam and Dean both looked to where Merrick was pointing. Sam's eyes were on stalks, and he let out a small whimper of disbelief. The moment that Dean heard the sound, he felt more relaxed.

"You see it, don't you Sammy? Tell me you can see it, _please_!"

"I'm assuming, then, that you'd seen it already?"

"Not just _seen_ it...Sam, that damned thing leapt straight up into the air out of the long grass right under my damned nose! Honestly, it scared the _poop _outta me; I figured I was finally heading for the psych couch, you know? Startin' to hallucinate and turn as crazy as this twisted, freakin' world. _Especially_ when the first thing it did was glower at me. Oh, an' tell me it was late right before it went harin' off; pun _entirely_ intentional. So...Who can answer me this? _Where_, exactly, does a damn _white rabbit_ get a made to measure jacket from?"

-o-

Sam slowly shook his head, his mind refusing to formulate an answer, whilst his stare remained fixed on the disappearing white rabbit as it lost itself amongst the crops growing in the next field. When he spoke, Sam's voice was so quiet, it was more as though he was talking to himself.

"What's it's doing _here?_ It doesn't belong, not here. It's the bloody White Rabbit. It should be in ...(!)... _No!_ No way!...It _can't_ be...Not there, it just _can't_ be. It...I...I _have _to wake up, just need to wake up..."

Putting his own melt down onto _stand by_, Dean instantly closed in on Sam, an arm around the younger man's shoulders as they stood toe to toe, foreheads touching.

"Ok. It's ok Sammy. I'm right here. Just 'cos some dumb wabbit decides to pop a jacket on, it don't mean that Wonderland is real, you hear me? All the white wabbits in this dumbass place might wear jackets. Hey! It could just be an Ozanian white wabbit fashion thing. Right?"

-o-

Sam smiled weakly and nodded.

"Dean? Can we just find Charlie and go home?"

"Sure bro, I like the sound of that plan. You sure you're feeling good to go?"

"Yeah. Dean, sorry about, you know..."

"What? You mean having the feelin' that if we let them, our lives could hit a whole new level of crazy? Well, if you ask me, our lives are freakish enough, and our own world's got enough of a cess pit of evil fuglies. We haven't got the energy to be worryin' about where rabbits come from...You know what I mean so stop lookin' at me like that. We stick to what we know, and let the rest take care of themselves. Ok?"

This time Sam's smile reached his eyes.

"I'm good with that."

-o-

Merrick had taken himself off a discreet distance away and sat himself down on a rock where he was happily chugging on a long slender pipe, sending delicate puffs of lavender smoke into the air and admiring the dozen or so brightly coloured butterflies that danced around his head, fluttering in and out of the lavender haze. He smiled and inclined his head towards his butterfly halo when he saw the Hunters walking his way. Even with the brothers close by, the butterflies continued to flit around. Dean looked at the overlong pipe.

"You poisonin' the local butterfly population now?"

Merrick too gazed at his pipe, and looked puzzled.

"It's not poison. It's an old gardener's trick. They used this to attract these things if they had plants being damaged by bugs. It's a mixture of the leaves and blossom from a flower these creatures love, when the flower burns, the smoke smells of honey and the flower's own sweet scent. Doesn't taste of anything much, but the butterflies are pretty, don't you think? Go on Sam, stick a finger into the smoke."

-o-

Dean watched Sam's eyes light up as he gazed, entranced, at the shimmering hues in the wings of the two butterflies who came to rest on his finger. Sometimes his giant younger brother could be so five. Catching Dean's eye, Merrick gave him a wink and Dean returned it with a small nod of thanks.

-o-

"We need to start making our way over rough ground now, we're going to be heading up that hill into the higher lands where you'll see one of the great lakes."

Sam looked over the open ground of the valley they were currently walking through. The land gently slope upwards, until it reached the base of the hill Merrick had indicated. Surrounded by easier looking slopes to climb, the hillside they were going to be heading up was both wider and steeper than any other route and would have been a daunting proposition to anyone who wasn't physically fit.

"Taking us the scenic route huh?"

Merrick shrugged.

"It's the quicker route. That's what matters I believe?"

Dean stared at the hill, noting where in patches it's sides were covered in trees and how, nearer what appeared to be it's peak, the ground looked to become much more rocky, suggesting there was some real climbing to come.

"You think we'll do this before nightfall?"

"Easily. We should be at the home of the Magenta Mage by then, if we keep moving."

Merrick sounded confident in his prediction.

"Fine. What're we waitin' for then? After you my friend."

-o-

The initial climb was out in the open in the heat of the middle of the day, it was a welcome relief then, when the three of them entered the shade of the first of the woodland areas they were to journey through. Merrick had a skill for spotting narrow animal tracks running in the right direction, making their uphill journey a little easier. On one occasion, as they rounded a huge rocky outcropping, they managed to disturb a deer and her fawn, as the animals darted away, the mother turned to glare in annoyance at Merrick, giving him a look that had both the brothers laughing. Gradually though, the climb grew steeper and each of the three men devoted their energy and concentration on their breathing and to keeping their feet as the ground turned to loose shale. The loose shale became stones and rocks, which in turn became rocks and boulders until, finally, they came to a halt at the base of a rugged rock face looming up above them.

-o-

Merrick shrugged off his backpack.

"I suggest we take a short break before we head further up."

Sam scanned the rock face left and right.

"Isn't there any way around it?"

"No. It's like this from now on in either direction, so here's a good a spot as any to make our way to the top."

Glad to be taking a breather, Dean stared up at the next part of their trek.

"What's at the top?"

Merrick grinned.

"You'll see."

**-oOo-**


	27. Chapter 27

**C27**

-oOo-

Dean stood staring at a waking nightmare, his eyes riveted on what stretched ahead of him, on the terrifying sight that for some insane reason, Merrick had thought Dean might think came under the heading of _Fun_! Sam didn't need the clue given by his brother's pale complexion and increased rate of breathing, or the additional sign provided by the sheen of perspiration on Dean's face, to know what effect this was having on his brother and he moved reassuringly to Dean's side.

"Dean, listen to me...You know you can do this, right?"

Dean's response was to turn his upper body and peer at Sam's back. Turning back, blank faced, he gazed steadily at his confused brother.

"Sammy...I think your arse just spoke to me."

-o-

Merrick was both curious and concerned by how ill Dean had begun to look and how quickly. He had appeared fine until, having completed the exhausting climb, he was standing at the top. Merrick became increasingly worried when he saw that Sam also seemed anxious about Dean's well-being.

"Are you alright, my friend? You look most unwell."

Dean simply turned away, avoiding looking at the view ahead, and leaving Sam to answer for him.

"No, he's ok. He just has this sorta..._thing_...about heights, you know? But honestly, give him a mo' and he'll be absolutaly fine. "

Dean stared at Sam in shock.

"On what planet is it that I'll be _fine_ Sam? _Please_...I _really_ wanna know!"

-o-

Dean hadn't plucked up the nerve to peer over the edge and see how far below them the bottom of the ravine was. He knew there was water down there though, he could hear what sounded like the only very slightly smaller cousin to the AngelFalls. His gaze did, however, kept on drifting back to the flimsy looking planked rope bridge stretched from their side of the ravine across to the other. In Dean's mind it was irrelevent whether the crossing was a hundred feet, or a hundred miles. He was petrified.

"Seriously Sam. I_ really_ don't think I can do this."

"I know you don't, but you're _gonna_ do it bro'. There's no other choice, might as well accept it ... How about we nip across to the other side, then we can find somewhere to sit down and talk this thing through?"

"Yeah, sounds goo..._Huh_?"

Sam smiled sympathetically.

"Nearly had you there."

"_Jerk_!"

Merrick handed Dean a leather tankard half full of water.

"Here, drink this. How about I go in front, you follow me, then Sam will be right behind you?"

Somehow, Dean managed to turn even paler, both eyebrows shot up and he stared at Merrick in sheer disbelief.

"Are you _crazy_? All _three _of us goin' out on that thing? All at _once_? Hey! I've got a better idea...Why don't we just shoot ourselves _now_? Avoid the whole fallin' part!"

-o-

Dean and Sam stood side by side, Dean with his eyes narrowed, heart pounding and an increasing feeling of nausea, as they watched Merrick walking confidentially across the rickety looking bridge which, Dean was quick to spot, bounced every time Merrick put a foot down on the wooden cross planks. At one spot, there was an ominous creak and Dean thought his heart was about to hammer itself out of his chest as Merrick paused. Ensuring that his feet were planted as solidly as they could be, Merrick untied his leather flagon of water from the outer of his backpack. Undoing the container, he poured water onto the creaking plank, marking it out. Looking back, he pointed at the wet cross-plank and shouted to Sam and Dean.

"Try to step over that one, ok?"

Dean wasn't sure how much longer his legs were going to continue to hold him up.

-o-

Two further planks were given the water treatment and then, at last, Merrick was safely across and waving at the two brothers from the opposite side of the ravine with a wide grin. Sam placed a hand at the centre of Dean's back, in part ready for if Dean tried to run.

"Ok, it's your turn to cross now."

Dean shook his head adamantly.

"Can't."

"_Dean_! You've _got_ to!

"I said _no_!...Have to go behind you."

"_Why_, for goodness sake? What difference does it make?"

"_Have_ to be behind you. In case you fall...Have to catch you."

Sam stared at his big brother in silence then, with a consenting nod, he turned away from Dean and looked toward the bridge.

-o-

Dean forced himself to direct all his focus onto watching for any warning signs that Sam might be slipping or stumbling, determined that he wasn't going to lose his brother to the deep ravine. Dean's level of concentration was such that he was caught by surprise to find himself suddenly at the end, crossing the bridge seeming to have taken hardly any time at all. Already on solid ground, and with a broad smile on his lips and pride gleaming in his eyes, Sam turned to watch Dean step off the bridge. Dean glanced at his brother, and quickly turned his head away, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Stop grinnin' like a moron at me will you? _Somebody_ had to watch your back while you crossed that damn thing."

Sam tried to look serious, but couldn't quite contain his smile.

"Yes Dean. Of course."

With a curl of his lip, Dean stomped past his brother to catch up with Merrick, who stood waiting for them on a narrow track of sandy earth. A track that seemed to come to a sudden stop, as the ground disappeared. A series of strange sounds were coming from somewhere behind Merrick.

"Dean!...Come and look."

Seeing nothing at Merrick's back except the sky, Dean groaned. None the less, he took a deep breath and cautiously made his way toward the annoyingly cheerful man.

-o-

"What'm I s'posed to be lookin' at? _Please,_ tell me it's not another freakin' cocktail stick and string bridge?"

"Here. See for yourself."

Steeling himself, Dean hesitantly sidled closer to what looked to him like a full stop to the land. Expecting the worst, he edged as close as he dare before raising himself up on his toes to peer over the precipice.

"_Son-ova_..._Sammy_, quick, come see this. It's _incredible_!"

Dean was clearly excited and Sam hurried over, keen to see what the cause was. Whatever it was, it seemed to be enough to have his brother standing right at the edge of what Sam assumed to be a sudden drop. Arriving at Dean's side, Sam stared at the scene laid out before them. Merrick smiled in satisfaction at the stunned expression on the faces of the two Hunters.

-o-

The three men stood at the top of a sudden and steep drop. However, it went down no more than a four or five yards after which it then levelled out again, to become a flat area of ground filled with wildflowers that petered out as the ground changed again, to a boarder of soft, white sand which formed the edge of a vast, circular, lake of crystal clear water. Even from where they were stood, they could see the silver and green flashes of a shoal of small fish darting around just below the surface of the water. The shallow bottom at the edge of the lake was covered in colourful and patterned pebbles, gleaming up through the water in the sun's light. As the lake became deeper, the water took on a brilliant turquoise blue colour that cried out an invitation to the three watchers to take a cooling swim. Except that the lake was already occupied, as were random areas of the sandy lakeside. Two Jenposson females strolling at the waters edge, each with a tiny baby in their arms, noticed the three men and smiled up at them, seeming to be unworried by their presence. And in reality, they had no reason to be concerned, surrounded as they were by numerous others of their kind. A more detailed observation showed that the adult Jenposson were far outnumbered by youngsters, from babies with their parents right the way up to teenagers. Many of the adult Jenposson appeared to have responsibility for a group of ten or so youngsters. Sam knocked Dean and pointed more towards the lake centre. Emerging from out of the deep water was a monolith, rising up to around thirty feet beyond the lake's surface. Standing with his hands on his hips was an adult who looked like a typical phys ed trainer, if you discounted the swimming skirt woven from algae and the shark fin growing out from his back. He was calling out different dive names to each child that stepped forward, and observed closely as they flung themselves off the monolith and into the water. As each child re-surfaced, the instructor's hand and arm actions showed he was critiquing each dive. Elsewhere, other youngsters were having to collect objects off the bottom, thrown there by the instructors, yet more were clearly racing against one another, whilst a group of older children were speeding through the water like arrows, every now and then bursting up and out of the lake to flip, twisting and twirling in the air, before re-entering the water. Wherever there was a group of youngsters, there was at least one adult, overseeing and interacting with them. The air was filled with Dolphin style whistles and clicks, along with laughter and squeals of delight. Dean couldn't stop himself from applauding one teenage looking youth who blasted out of the lake and high up into the air to complete a series of complex manoeuvres before knifing gracefully back into the lake, causing hardly any disturbance in the water. It didn't take long after that for the Jenposson to hear about their observers, and for the youngsters to immediately try to outdo one another, all seeking to impress the three humans who were watching. Not taking his eyes off the lake, Dean spoke quietly.

"If any of _our _schools had been like this, I would've enjoyed goin' a whole lot more than I did!"

-o-

Their journey took them around the edge of the lake and, as they walked, some of the young Jenposson swam and played parallel to them within the lake. One young lady whistled and threw a red and blue striped pebble

over to Sam, which he caught and thanked her for by giving a deep bow, sending her giggling back to her friends. It was with reluctance that the three turned away from the lake and headed towards a pine forest, it's interior looking dark and foreboding in comparison to the bright and busy lake.

**-oOo-**


	28. Chapter 28

**C28**

-oOo-

Charlie didn't do helpless very well, neither was she very good at sitting around waiting for something to happen. She became more and more fractious until, finally, Dorothy stopped attempting to talk her round and, instead, turned her back on Charlie, the only thing Dorothy could really do to get away from her. Grinlaff couldn't understand why the Charlie was wasting time worrying about what_ might_ happen, when it was completely obvious what _would_ happen. The Magenta Mage was going to stop the ones the Charlie was depending on from getting any of them out of the tower. The bed sheet hanging droopily out of the window space on which Miss Dorothy and the Charlie had written TRAP wasn't going to help. By the time the Charlie's friends were standing reading it, if indeed they _could_ read it, the trap would already have been triggered. In the Munchkin's mind, the sooner the Charlie realised this, the quicker life in the tower could settle down again...

-o-

The Munchkin's mental meanderings were interrupted by a barely noticeable sound coming from outside the tower, completely outside it Grinlaff realised. From the outside that was outside the tower window. Curious, Grinlaff hopped off his chair and tugged it as close as he could to the window gap. Curled up in a comma at the bottom of the bed, Charlie raised her head at the sound of the chair's feet scraping over the floor. She frowned as she saw the Munchkin climbing up, back onto the chair, panting a little at his exhertions. Charlie rested her chin on the palm of her hand.

"Hey, Grinlaff. I don't think even _you _are small enough to fit through that gap. Even if you did? The only result would be squished Munchkin soufflé. You'd be _guaranteed_ to fall."

Grinlaff glanced at Charlie.

"Hum, I do not wish to push through this, hum, gap. I only, hum, wish to see what is making the noise."

Charlie sat up slowly.

"What noise?"

"Hum. The noise that I can hear."

Charlie held her breath and concentrated, finally hearing a small scratching noise. She quickly reached behind herself and gave the dozing Dorothy a firm shove.

"Eyes front lover, I think we might have company!"

-o-

Life in Oz had taught Dorothy how to go from sleep to fully awake in half a second. Sitting bolt upright she stared across towards the window at Grinlaff's rear view.

"Did you say _company_?"

"Uh huh. Do you see anything yet Grinlaff?"

Both women clambered off the bed and headed towards the Munchkin as Grinlaff looked back at them over his shoulder.

"Hum yes. There are _many _anythings to be seen outside, hum, this window."

Charlie rolled her eyes, thinking she really needed to get a grasp on learning to speak Munchkin.

"Do you see anything that might be directly responsible for the scratching noise we heard?"

Grinlaff nodded.

"Oh, that, hum, well yes. As a matter of _ffffhum_! _Pleease _Mistress Dorothy, hum. Get it _off_ me, hum, _quickly_! Hum. Pleeease?"

-o-

Picking their way down an incline, the three men entered the darkness of the forest, their feet sinking into a spongy forest floor created by decades of fallen pine needles. The air within the forest's interior was chill, and for the two brothers, there was something else. The two Hunters each felt a tingle up their spines and a sensation against the exposed skin of their faces and hands like the touch of the barely there threads of a spider's web. A shared glance told them that they had both felt the same thing, and their whole bearing changed in response to the delicate tremor of magic that was in the air.

-o-

Merrick hadn't felt anything odd or out of place, but he didn't miss the subtle changes in his two companions. He would never have been able to describe anything specific about the change that came over the two brothers, but there was something that altered in their movements, in their stance. They each somehow appeared more alert, more purposeful, and even more attuned to one another. Dean now carried the sword of the Samurai in his hand, whilst Sam held his Taurus in readiness, and both began to move with stealth and a grace surprising to Merrick. He recognised that what he now saw ahead of him was no longer simply two brothers, the companions who were strangers in his world. Instead, he found himself following in the footsteps of the Hunters that they had told him they were. Despite not knowing what it was that had brought about this change in his two friends, Merrick placed his trust in their instincts. He too drew his sword and he began to try out slight adjustments in how he used his body, seeking to emulate the silent movements of the Hunters as he followed them, observing the hand signals occasionally passing between the two, gradually pairing signal with action and reaction, building them into his own vocabulary.

-o-

Charlie squealed with delight.

"They must be getting close!"

Petting and stroking the ecstatic squirrel, Dorothy grinned.

"Yes. And now we have a proper way to warn them that the Mage knows they're on their way here. Don't we my clever little friend?"

The squirrel rubbed it's little head under Dorothy's chin then moved in front of her face, holding her with a dainty paw on each cheek and licking at her nose as if sharing in the women's excitement.

-o-

Only Grinlaff seemed displeased at the squirrel's arrival. There being no corner to sit in within the main room, he had taken himself off into the curved bathroom instead where he sat himself on a wooden stool and frowned at the scene through the open door. In his experience, squirrels were contemptuous, conniving, self serving, duplicitous little harbingers of woe and he was having nothing to do with it, even though Miss Dorothy and the Charlie clearly knew this one, and for some reason, liked it. Not wishing to be so mean and unkind as to spoil the joyful mood and laughter, he maintained his silence and his distance, keeping his unhappy thoughts to himself.

-o-

Sam suddenly froze and held up a fist, signalling Dean and Merrick to do the same. After a second or two, Merrick heard the reason for them stopping. It was the muffled sound of a horse's hooves thudding against the forest floor, moving at a trot nearby. Mimicking Sam and Dean, Merrick moved to stand with his back flattened against the trunk of a tree and waited. Dean glanced across to Sam and raised one eyebrow questioningly when the sound of the horse ceased. Sam gave a slight shrug of his shoulders and a shake of his head in return. The three men remained still, but there was no further sound to suggest where the horse might be. Dean again signalled to his brother, indicating that he was going to take a look. Sam nodded and raised his gun, showing he was ready if needed. Returning his sword to it's scabbard, Dean stepped away from his small amount of cover and moved forward. He was quickly hidden from Merrick's view by the trees blocking his line of sight, leaving Merrick to take his cues from Sam.

-o-

Dean opted for staying silent as he began to move downhill again in the direction the sound of hooves had seemed to be going. Looking ahead, he spotted an area roughly a hundred yards further down the slope where it seemed that the trees thinned out a little, and the light levels filtering down into the forest were brighter. Checking over his shoulder, he could still just see where Sam stood. Dean signalled his intent to go further, aware it would take him out of sight. Ignoring the stern shake of his younger brother's head, Dean moved on. A new sound reached his ears, that of running water, coming from the brighter patch of forest. With no immediate sign of a horse and rider, Dean began to follow the sound, hesitating only once when, for the second time, he felt his spine crawl in response to the aura of magic in the air, this time it's touch feeling firmer. Refusing to be put off, Dean drew closer to the area of forest which enjoyed a higher level of light.

-o-

Sam watched in dismay as his oppositional brother ranged out of sight. Turning around, he beckoned Merrick over. Seeing the combination of annoyance and worry being projected by Sam, Merrick didn't hesitate, instinctively knowing that Sam's feelings were not directed at him and guessing that Dean was up to something with which Sam disagreed. Sam's quiet whisper confirmed it.

"Dean's moved outta sight. We need to keep up with the jackass, make sure he doesn't get into trouble, you ok with that?"

Merrick nodded.

"Of course. After you Sam. Rest assured that I'll be keeping an eye open for anything that might try attacking us from behind. Did Dean see something? Is that why he's gone ahead?"

"No, don't think he's spotted anythin', and I'm guessin' _that's _why he's gone ahead, after I told him not to.

**-oOo-**


	29. Chapter 29

**C29**

-oOo-

Charlie handed the note she had quickly scribbled over to Dorothy, who was cuddling the contented little squirrel. Scanning the brief note, Dorothy nodded, satisfied at what she read. Moving to the tower window, Dorothy set the mewling creature down on the chair by the window space and knelt down in front of it, getting as close to eyelevel with the squirrel as she could.

"I'm so sorry my friend, but the time to rest must wait awhile. I have one more favour to ask of you. The little animal became the epitome of cute as it yawned a squirrel sized yawn, triggering a falsetto voice from Dorothy.

"Oooo! Did you _see _it's little yawn? That's so _darlin'_!"

The squirrel didn't quite manage to close it's mouth again before Dorothy had shoved the folded note between it's teeth. Putting her mouth close to the animal's ear, she whispered what she wanted it to do. As it had so many days ago, the squirrel squeaked it's understanding then scampered out of the window, and down the tower wall. Charlie raced to the window and watched the tiny blob until it moved around the tower and disappeared out of sight. With a deep sigh, she turned to face Dorothy.

"Well. That's that. Nothing more we can do now."

Charlie turned towards the bathroom.

"Grinlaff? You planning on staying in there? Only I should warn you, I really need a..."

The Munchkin shot out of the bathroom like a bullet from a gun, and dived under the bed. Grinning, Charlie strolled towards the bathroom.

"Thanks, Grinlaff."

-o-

Where the pine trees began to thin out, tall growing lush green ferns and glossy leafed shrubs had established themselves. Dean made good use of the cover they provided to creep closer to what sounded like a fairly fast moving stream. Ahead, he saw a flattened track on the ground, threading between shrubs and clearly leading on down towards the stream's edge. Experience told Dean that the track had been made by the local wildlife, various creatures over time having made their way along it and down to the stream to drink. Keeping to an outer edge of the track, Dean hadn't followed it very far when, through the trees and long grass, he sighted a portion of the white flank of a horse.

-o-

Aware that his brother and Merrick had been following him and so would have his back, Dean decided to go for the casual, _I'm a_ _jolly traveller just stopping off for water_ approach. The one which announced his presence to the horse's rider who would, hopefully, then perceive him as non-threatening. Placing himself in the centre of the path, hands in pockets, Dean began strolling along the track singing loudly, forgoing his usual tenor tones for something slightly off key and barely tuneful.

"_Fal lal laa, my love she's gone to the bar. How I cheer, she's got me a beer. Daa dee daa. Pum tee pum and then fol lol lol some more..._"

The thought which flashed through his mind as he was knocked sideways into the air by the truck like force of a startled and terrified unicorn leaving at high speed, necessitating Sam and Merrick to split and fling themselves sideways in opposite directions, was _Not a music lover then?... _

-o-

The squirrel was in a hurry, keen to get back to the lady in the high-up place, the one who instinctively knew how to fuss and play with him. Sitting back on his hind quarters, he batted and scratched at the huge, brass bound, black wooden double doors, impatient to be admitted. When, at last, someone responded and one of the massive doors began to swing inward, the squirrel scampered through as soon as there was a wide enough gap. Coming to a halt, he shook himself, bright eyes darting around the large entry hall until it spotted what it was looking for. Soft folds of magenta velvet shuddered as the squirrel skipped up and over them, completing the last of it's primary tasks and the final leg of it's journey, coming to rest on it's master's shoulder. The Magenta Mage gently took the paper containing Charlie's message from the squirrel, scratching his pet behind one ear before carefully unfolding the note and reading it's contents.

_Glad you're ok. Be careful, the Mage knows _

_you're here, he's sent men out looking for you._

_Charlie xx_

_P.S. Hope you remembered the choccie?_

The Mage smiled humourlessly.

"Much of this grammar would seem to require correction, don't you agree my pet?"

The squirrel nibbled softly at it's master's ear as the Mage gracefully passed a long fingered hand through the air an inch above the writing on the paper, and watched with satisfaction as the original words written by Charlie faded out of sight, to be replaced with a perfect copy of Charlie's handwriting, but with the words conjured by the Magenta Mage.

_Glad you're close by. Magenta Mage still in the dark, _

_so your way is clear. Hurry please. Time running out_

_Charlie xx_

_P.S. Hope you remembered the choccie?_

Holding out his hand, the squirrel hopped onto it and the Mage carried the animal to a central table in the entrance hall. On the table was a selection of small dishes, holding a variety of nuts and fruit.

"Eat my little one, satisfy your hunger and then, carry this note to the two human intruders.

**-oOo-**


	30. Chapter 30

**C30**

-oOo-

Sam scrambled to his feet, his mind reeling as he stared in the direction the creature had taken and had already disappeared out of sight. He told himself it wasn't possible, that his eyes _had_ to have been playing tricks on him. Merrick, clutching his left arm close to his side with his right hand, staggered to where Sam was standing, a dumbstruck expression on his face.

"Those idiotic and pointless animals are _so_ highly strung. It actually takes _far_ less than something like your brother's singing to startle them and make them run. To be honest, I'm actually surprised that the damn thing _could_ run, instead of hearing Dean's singing and just keeling over on the spot!...Um...Are you alright Sam?"

Sam nodded, finally tearing his gaze away from the route that the mythical animal had madly careered off down.

"What _was_ that?"

"That, Sam, was a representative of _thee_ most brainless animal species in the whole of Oz. A bloody Unicorn! It is no lie when I tell you that every single one of those creatures is dumber than a duck and outstandingly neurotic. They're truly useless animals, totally impossible to tame. Would you believe that they are even afraid of their _own_ kind? Which, on the _plus_ side, means that the stunningly stupid beasts are at least very rare and, not surprisingly, becoming rarer."

Sam noticed the way Merrick was holding his arm.

"_Shit_, you're hurt!

"I will be fine Sam. I jarred it when I landed on it. It is Dean that we really need to find. That thing just barged him out of it's way."

-o-

Sam turned to look along the track. He had expected that Dean would be making his way down to them. However, there was no sign of him, and no sounds of his brother's cursing coming from anywhere nearby.

"Ah, Hell. Dean? _Dean_!..._Answer me damn you_!"

Continuing to shout out his brother's name, Sam sped along the track, heading for the point at which he had last seen his brother. Merrick was impressed by the speed at which Sam could run, and he quickly found himself having to work hard to avoid getting left too far behind in the wake of Sam's long legged strides. He added his voice to Sam's, calling out Dean's name and listening for any response.

-o-

Merrick was completely caught off guard when Sam completed a sharp 45 degree right hand turn, and Merrick's feet very nearly got tangled up in themselves and folded under him with the effort of keeping up with the unexpected change in direction. Sam slowed and came to a full stop when his way was blocked by a dense grouping of flower laden shrubs. He stood a moment listening. This time Merrick too heard the sound which had caused Sam's sudden change of direction. From somewhere within all the blossom and greenery, a low moan reached his ears. Spotting a section within the shrubbery that was an area of broken off and damaged branches, wrecked flower heads and torn, scattered petals, Sam began to push his way through the plants. Another groan of complaint confirmed Sam's direction for him and he, finally, fought his way successfully to the area where his brother had come crashing landed through the shrubbery, ending up face down on the ground, half hidden under the debris caused by his unorthodox appearance in to the midst of the thick growth. Pushing his way closer, Sam saw that although Dean's eyes were still closed, he was beginning to slowly move

"Hang on Dean. You're ok, I'm here dude."

More branches snapped and tore as Sam squatted down by Dean's side as best he could, whilst Merrick began to shove his way towards the brothers. Sam put a hand on Dean's shoulder and shook him slightly.

"Hey you...Open your eyes Dean. Come on, I need you to look at me, ok?"

Dean shifted, finally turning his head onto it's side. Green eyes blinked lazily up at Sam, not yet fully focused, and a dopey smile drifted over Dean's lips.

"S'mmy? You see th' Uniform?"

Sam grinned down at his obviously dazed brother.

"You mean the _Unicorn_ don't you?"

"Thass what I said...Th' Punyhorn...S'mmy? You ok?"

Sam was already running his hands over Dean, checking for signs of any serious injuries, relieved not to find anything obvious.

"I'm fine Dean, really. It's not_ me_ who's been planted."

"No? Who wossit then?"

"_You _of course, you jerk!"

Dean's eyebrows drew together in a frown and his gaze shifted, drifting around, checking out his surroundings. Catching sight of Merrick's worried features staring down at him, Dean produced another half smile before seeking out his brother's face again.

"M'not a jerk...'Parrently m'a pretty little flowery, an' these're all my pretty flowery friends. You wanna say hello?...S'mmy?...Help m'yup?"

"Ahh...I see. So, _really_ you're a weed, and now you need pullin' up?"

"Bitch."

-o-

The Magenta Mage smiled as he poured a generous amount of red wine and raised the glass in salute to himself. Holding Dorothy as his prisoner, had given him complete control over the Munchkins. Of course, having a goodly number of the Munchkin women and children in the dungeons below ground also acted as suitable stick with which to beat thoughts of rebellion out of both their tiny little minds and Dorothy's. But the _real_ prize had come with the other one, with the woman named Charlie who had unexpectedly been with Dorothy when she was finally captured. Keeping _her _imprisoned along with Dorothy, _that _had given him power over the legendary Dorothy herself! With her afraid to make a move against him, his domination over _all_ the Munchkin tribes, garnering their loyalty to him throughout Oz, was virtually complete.

-o-

For some time the Magenta mage had been astute enough to recognise that, whoever was seen to have the support of the Munchkin tribes, would lead to most of the other people's living in Oz would then accepting their rule. Very soon now, he would be in a position to formally name himself _Supreme Leader of Oz Beyond Anyone_. The Mage had fashioned the title himself, wanting to leave no doubts in anyone's mind about the position he held. His goal had been to take complete control before any of the old guard, those demented old hags of Oz, even realised their were under threat. There had been no huge battles, no wars to alert the witches to the threat that the Magenta Mage posed. Everything so far had been carried out with the use of only a small amount of manpower, the use of stealth and the use of magic. A tactic which had been more successful that the Mage himself had dared hope. He felt his achievements so far were worthy of opening a bottle of the most valuable wine in his cellars.

-o-

As he savoured the smoothness of the fine wine, the Mage turned his thoughts to the two otherworld warriors who were even now making their way to him, brought to Oz by that same prize catch, the Charlie woman. The Mage hadn't known that his pet was making frequent visits to the tower prison where he held the two women, not until the animal had brought the first note to him. Until then, the Mage hadn't believed the legend of Dorothy when it was claimed she arrived in Oz from another world. However, when his pet brought him the Charlie woman's note seeking help, the Mage's ambitions had grown. These two men could give him access to a whole new world, _their_ world; a world whichwould _also_ learn to be subservient to him, and to call him _Master_. The Mage topped up his glass. Everything so far was pretty much going to plan, although he had yet to tell Dorothy of _her _ultimate role in his climb to power. The Mage slowly smiled to himself again.

**-oOo-**


	31. Chapter 31

**C31**

-oOo-

"How's the head doing? You back to functioning on both cylinders yet?"

Sat by the stream, Dean drained the last of his water and nodded.

"I'll cope. _Freakin'_ Unicorn! Too _dumbass_ to go round me, has to try and go straight through."

Sam smirked at the outrage in Dean's voice.

"If you ask me bro', I think it succeeded. You being in it's path didn't make it slow down any from what I saw."

Dean turned to look at Sam, noticing Sam wince at seeing again the side of Dean's face that was scratched and bruised from his crash landing into the middle of the bushes

"Yeah well. Maybe it's true they only nuzzle virgins, so maybe it just never noticed me? Makes you wonder though, 'cos if the virgin thing's right... That thing should've slammed the brakes on and hit nuzzle mode soon as it spotted _you_."

Merrick stared in bug eyed shock at Sam.

"Merrick! He's just kiddin'. I'm _not_ still a ...! Stop starin' at me like that will you? _Jeeze_! Dean? Just you remember, payback's a bitch!"

-o-

Alert for any signs of a dysfunctional Unicorn, and with Sam having refused to walk ahead of Dean and Merrick to act as "bait" as Dean had sweetly suggested, the three men continued to quietly make their way through the dimly lit forest. By late afternoon, their attempts at moving cautiously and in silence were being sabotaged at fairly regular intervals by the rumbling of Dean's stomach, much to his own embarrassment, and Merrick's stifled giggles. The longer he was in the company of these strange otherworld brothers, the more Merrick began to re-consider his own life style, and to wonder whether being alone as he travelled the lands hiring out his skills was how he wanted his life to be anymore? When Sam paused, clearly listening for something other than his brother's gut churning with hunger, Dean and Merrick also stopped, looking at him questioningly. With a tip of his head, Sam silently mouthed _Movement, in the tree's_.

-o-

The sound of a number of footfalls plodding up the steps alerted Dorothy and Charlie to the imminent arrival of visitors to their tower top abode and a worrying diversion from their usual daily routine. Moving quickly, Charlie grabbed the chair from by the window, whilst Dorothy hurriedly fetched the stool from out of the bathroom. Raising their piece of furniture to shoulder height, they positioned themselves one at either side of the door and tensed, waiting for it to be unlocked and opened. Panicked, Grinlaff quickly looked around for something that he could use as a weapon against whatever multi-legged horror was currently coming to a standstill outside their door. Hearing the key turning in the lock, the Munchkin scrambled madly up onto the bed, grabbed the nearest pillow and slid back off the bed, onto the floor. Seeing the door start to open inwards, he didn't have time to cross to Dorothy, so he made do with plonking himself by the side of the Charlie.

-o-

As the door was pushed open wider, Dorothy took a step forward, raising her stool a little higher, balancing it a little further back over her shoulder, intending to swipe as hard and mercilessly as she could at whatever took the first step into the room. The hot fire of determination in her eyes spluttered and died however, and Dorothy hesitated when she saw Growsac and the upturned faces of another four Munchkins blinking firstly up at her, and then at the stool she was holding in the air. Seeing Dorothy freeze and the stool remain held aloft, Charlie realised that Dorothy wasn't going to be whacking anyone. Figuring it was now up to her, Charlie leaped from behind the door, chair waving threateningly, followed closely by Grinlaff and his saggy pillow.

-o-

Dorothy dropped the stool and held both arms out to Charlie, physically placing herself in front of the chair wielding woman.

"_No_! _Don't_!"

The distress in Dorothy's cry made Charlie freeze. Dorothy shook her head.

"Please?"

Charlie slowly lowered her chair and sighed, nodding at Grinlaff to lay down his pillow. Growsac's gaze swept over the threesome and he gave them all a friendly smile.

"Hello Miss.._ses_. Fancied having a little change round in here, did we? Good idea, make better use of the space I say. Though I'm thinkin' yon pillow was already just right, you know? Bein' on the bed? Don't you agree lads?"

Growsac's companions were enthusiastic in their support of pillows always looking at their best when nicely arranged on a bed, a couple getting themselves quickly tangled up in the finer points of interior design debating whether a pillow should be arranged with the open end of it's pillowcase towards the middle of a bigger than single bed, or was it more socially acceptable to place the open end lying to the edge of a bigger than single bed? Dorothy threw Charlie an apologetic look, she couldn't do it, simply couldn't bring herself to wallop a Munchkin with a wooden stool. Charlie sighed. Setting her chair on the floor, she sat herself down on it and waited for the pillowcase debate to reach a conclusion.

**-oOo-**


	32. Chapter 32

**C32**

-oOo-

Merrick pointed upward.

"There."

Sam and Dean squinted at the small blur of something moving from tree top to tree top that Merrick had spotted. Dean's eyes narrowed further.

"I'd love to believe it's a bird, but, Sammy? I think this' for you."

Sam gave a short whistle, and the blur instantly altered direction to head their way, until it almost skidded down the trunk of the tree nearest Sam and launched itself at him with a show of excitement and affection. Sam's greeting of the squirrel was also enthusiastic.

"Brad! You ok my little pal? What's that you brought? For me? Ok, thank you my little friend...Brad, that _tickles_!"

Dean shook his head in despair and glanced at Merrick.

"He's _definitely _gonna want to keep it, an' he's definitely _not_ gonna like my answer. Hey...You two honeymooners? Mind if we get goin'?"

Sam gently nudged Brad up onto his shoulder to concentrate on the tiny folded up piece of familiar looking paper.

-o-

"Hang on Dean, I think Brad's been and called in on Charlie, he's brought another note. Let's see..."

Unfolding the delicate paper, Sam quickly scanned the hand written note signed by Charlie. Dean made an impatient _Tsk_ sound.

"So? Are the _rest_ of us gonna hear what it says? Or is it for your eyes only?"

Sam looked to both Dean and Merrick, grinning.

"Good news. Seems our way ahead's clear. Charlie says the Mage doesn't know about us, he's got no idea that we're on route to bust her and Dorothy out."

"Well ok. I say we make the most of it, and start to pick up the speed. Weeee're _off_ to see the Mag_eee_, the maggoty Magee of Oz!"

-o-

Dorothy decided to bring an end to the pillow debate.

"_Enough_! Why have you all come up here? Does anyone remember?"

Growsac, feeling somewhat embarrassed at having lost control of his men, snapped to attention.

"Misses, if you please. We have orders to escort you all down to the Mage's study."

Grinlaff paled.

"Hum. Would that be the sort of, hum, _all_ that means me too? Or the sort of, hum, _all_ that means I can stay, hum, here?"

The Huddle of Munchkins looked to one another, suddenly uncertain, whilst Growsac scratched his head thoughtfully, which all _had_ the Mage meant? Growsac glanced around at his men who were now clearly waiting for him to clarify the _all_ for everyone. He realised that he had to appear decisive, and confident in his decision, so he decided he needed to feel certain _himself_ of his decision, he decided to think about it for a moment.

"Erm..."

Charlie stood up.

"All means all, so that means Grinlaff as well, otherwise it's only _nearly _all and the Mage will be unhappy that you disobeyed him. Right?"

The Munchkins turned again to Growsac. The Charlie Miss was right, all meant all.

"I have decided. _All_ means _all_, so we escort young Grinlaff down to the Mage's study as well. Please would _you_ allfollow _us_ all, downstairs_?_"

-o-

If a walloping with a wooden chair wasn't allowed, Charlie had to assume that neither was a good hard shove at the Munchkin in front of her in order to cause a Munchkin domino effect and send them all tumbling down the steps ahead of her. Pity really, Charlie pictured herself and Dorothy gracefully leaping over the higgledy piggledy pile of Munchkin bodies and making their way to freedom. Grinlaff, she assumed, would want to stay behind with the fallen...In order to help them up again. Instead of following through with her urge, she politely followed the Munchkin escort duty down the spiralling stone steps, matching her pace to that of their much shorter legs in order not to accidentally stand on any of them.

-o-

The rest of the journey through the depths of the pine forest passed without incident, seeming to support Charlie's note and enabling the three men to move quickly, without so much consideration to stealth. Reaching the edge of the forest, they paused. Ahead of them the downward slope they had been travelling suddenly dropped away at a frighteningly steep angle, ending somewhere far below them in a flat, almost circular, isolated looking valley. All around it, the valley was surrounded by further high and steep sided hills, some of which looked as if their soaring peaks would actually qualify them to be called mountains. As a result, the valley appeared very much as though it was completely cut off from the rest of the outside world. The clear ground in the centre of the valley bottom appeared almost flat from the vantage point of the three men and, meandering through the middle, dividing the valley bottom in half, was a dark blue ribbon of water, too wide to be a stream or brook, best described as a narrow river. The two strips of grey suggested there were two bridges crossing the river, dividing the snaking waters very nearly into equal thirds. To the west and around to the north west of the traveller's view point, the actual bases of the high peaks within that area appeared to have grown up out from areas of thick woodland, seemingly a mixture of both deciduous and evergreens. It was from one section of this woodland that the river emerged.

-o-

At the far east side of the valley could be seen the dark shapes of buildings and areas of managed land. Merrick guessed that, in total there, were possibly two or three smallholdings on their side of the river, and a couple more on the opposite side. The farm buildings all nestled in the curve of ground that was the flat land meeting the steep inclines. What could be seen of the ground at the bottom of the hill on which Merrick and the Hunters were standing looked to be rough, unkempt ground with patches of pale colour, suggesting swathes of flowers, here and there. Along the banks of the river on their side, they could see what looked like occasional, very sizable, smooth topped boulders surrounded by numerous smaller ones. Other than these boulder piles and an occasional small grouping of white pine, it appeared that, once the three made their way down the treacherous hill side, they would then be faced with the challenge of having to cross over relatively open ground in persuit of their goal, as Merrick had indicated on his roughly sketched map back at the Travellinn. Their target, the Magenta Mage's turreted and towered castle, stood gazing back at them from where it stood on a substantial and rocky surfaced ledge on the opposite side of the valley to the three men. "

-o-

Merrick guessed the ledge to be roughly a hundred and fifty feet up the side of a mountainous looking hill. Narrowed eyes picked out a zigzagging path or road leading upwards onto the ledge and then carry on up to an outer wall surrounding a semi-circular courtyard in which the castle itself stood, along with a number of outbuildings and grassed areas. The path clearly continued on the internal side of the enclosure wall, indicating the point at which an entrance to the courtyard was positioned. The castle itself had walls of grey stone and, to Merrick's experienced eyes, what looked to be a central double door entry sited at the top of a short flight of steps. The main body of the castle looked to be three floors high. But by far it's most impressive and imposing feature was the tall tower which rose up into the air from the castle's east side. It had the appearance of a narrow finger, pointing up at the darkening skies above and signalling a warning. Merrick could almost imagine it whispering to him _One chance, turn back!_

Dean was less prosaic.

"That's one helluva piece of real estate."

**-oOo-**


	33. Chapter 33

**C33**

-oOo-

"Ah _ladies_...And Grinlaff. How _lovely_ of you to join me. Please, take a seat over here won't you?"

Standing with his back to a fire blazing merrily within a huge carved stone fireplace, the Magenta Mage smiled as Charlie, Dorothy and Grinlaff were paraded into the study, and pointed to three ornate wooden chairs placed in a line at one side of a broad gleaming walnut desk. Dorothy raised her chin and glared at the Mage defiantly.

"I would rather stand if it's all the same to you."

The Mage looked at her rather sadly.

"Oh dear. This really is all my own fault. Please, accept my apologies. I did rather make it sound as though you have a choice, didn't I? Allow me to clarify..._Sit...__**Down**_!"

Grinlaff couldn't get to a chair quick enough, terror sending him running and tripping across to the line of chairs and scrambling up onto the one furthest away from where the Mage was standing and plonking his backside down with a _thud_. Once seated, Grinlaff's feet were left dangling in mid-air and it was a hard fought battle trying to resist his instinctive desire to start swinging them back and forth. He kept his eyes lowered, his hands twisting and rubbing together on his lap in a clear show of anxiety.

-o-

Unlike the Munchkin, Charlie and Dorothy made their way intentionally slowly and sedately towards the remaining two seats. Using a finger tip, Dorothy drew an invisible line across the seat, making a play of checking for any dust or dirt prior to sitting herself down in the one nearest the desk, and staring without fear at the Mage.

"There...Sat. Happy now?"

Charlie very casually sat herself down between Dorothy and Grinlaff, and began looking around the large study; partly out of female curiosity and partly by way of assessing her environment with one eye on escape.

"Why, _thank _you for asking my dear. For the moment, I am content."

Charlie tore her eyes away from trying to read the titles of some of the books filling the ceiling to floor book shelves. She sounded irritated when she spoke.

"Any chance you could cut out all this nicey nicey crap sometime soon? It's making me nauseous."

Five Munchkin guards began earnestly gazing around the room, trying to spot the _crap _that the Charlie wanted the Mage to cut out for her.

The Mage's features grew taut.

"Fine. Let's do that shall we? I asked for you to be brought down here so that you could be present for the arrival of my new guests. I believe you are both acquainted with them. You recently wrote to them as it happens. What a pity for you both that you entrusted the task of carry your warning to the otherworlders into the tiny paws of my own loyal little pet."

-o-

Both women frowned. An awful sinking feeling washed over Charlie and she could do nothing but hope that she was wrong. Unfortunately, the Magenta Mage's sneeringly self- satisfied smile told her otherwise as he held out a hand and made a few clicks and whistles. Within a flash, something seemingly neither human or vegetable, streaked by the three prisoners, up it's master's chest and came to a stop, draping itself around the Mage's neck and rubbing the top of it's head under it's master's chin.

" Terribly cute...Don't you think?"

"That two timing squirrel."

The smile plastered on the Mage's face grew broader at Dorothy's whisper.

"Yes...I trained him rather well, don't you think? You might like to know that he did take your missive, to the otherworlder's, _once_ I adjusted it a touch. When my pet delivers it, your friends will believe their way here is clear. The less cautious they are, the easier it will be for my men to hunt them down and entrap them. How are your hopes of escape _now_, ladies?"

Neck and neck, the two women launched themselves out of their chairs and forwards, both driven by their anger and frustration into attempting to attack the Mage with their bare hands.

-o-

Staying within the cover of the trees, the three would be rescuers moved along the ridge, staring down at areas where the hill side seemed to have simply just dropped away. seeking out a route down that offered them a greater amount of cover. Sam pointed some yards ahead.

"There, that bit looks more doable. I say we start to make our way down whilst we've still got some light to see by."

Dean gave a nod.

"Agreed. Let's do it."

Spacing themselves an arms length apart, the companions carefully began making their way down the steep hillside, each of them experiencing areas so steep that the best and safest way to descend was by sitting down and resorting to a controlled slide.

-o-

It was Merrick who slipped and lost his footing first, discovering that what looked like the normal grassy area was, in fact, an area of loose shale hidden from sight under shallow rooted grass. Feeling the ground suddenly shift from under his feet and his body lurch forward, he desperately re-directed his fall to one side, hitting the ground hard and instantly beginning to roll down the hill, rapidly gathering speed. Sam had tried to reach for Merrick, but instead he found himself _also _slithering down a stomach jerking ten yards, only managing to stop his descent himself by grabbing hold of a single branch on a shrub as he slewed past. Sam froze, one hand clutching desperately at the slender branch.

"_Dean_? Get over here? This branch ain't goin' to hold for long."

-o-

"On my way, keep hanging on."

Dean carefully crabbed his way over to where his brother had first slipped from and kept going another couple of feet, putting himself in line with the low growing shrub that hosted his brother's single branch hand hold. Digging his heels in, Dean began to butt shuffle steadily down to the shrub. Reaching it, he held himself in place by wedging a foot against the shrub's short, thick main stem which divided into gnarled and knotted roots that spread across the ground underneath the shrub before disappearing deep into the earth. Dean bounced his foot on and off the wooded stem to ensure the thing was stable. Satisfied, he stretched down Sam's free hand.

"Grab my hand Sammy an' I'll pull you up here with me, ok?

Sam's face showed the stain he was feeling from holding his whole body weight by one hand. Very slowly, he reached for Dean's proffered hand, finding himself short by a couple of inches. Dean stretched down as far as he dare until their finger tips were just touching, it wasn't enough. There was a sudden lurch, and Sam was again inches out of reach as the joint of the branch he was clinging onto ripped partially away from the main stem.

"Dean!"

"Hell. Ok, I comin' down to you."

"What? _No_..."

Dean had already taken his foot off the sturdy stem and let himself slide, hand out at the ready. Pebbles and torn grass slewed ahead of Dean. Letting go a grunt of determination, Dean's open hand caught and curled around the strong stem that had so recently acted as his foothold. He brought himself to a jolting stop, fishing around with his free hand, relieved to be able to wrap both hands around the plant stem. Lying with his back against the almost vertical incline and with his arms at full stretch above him, He heard an ominous creak and the sound of wood fibres snapping apart.

"_Sammigrabbon_!"

At the same time as his lifeline finally cracked and tore completely away from the main shrub, Sam stretched and hoped for the best from a desperate, wild and un-aimed grab upwards. Expecting to be rewarded with nothing but air, he was startled to feel his long fingers wrap, vice like, around one of Dean's ankles. Dean groaned through gritted teeth at the violent tug of the sudden weight hanging off one ankle, memories of being on Hell's rack, his shoulders about to be torn from their sockets, flashed through his mind. Screwing his eyes closed, Dean felt a second hand his grab hold of his other ankle, evening the drag a little. He spat out one word, then held his breath against the torment, determined to hold on.

"_Climb_!"

Sam did as his brother ordered using anything he could to help him quickly climb up Dean's body, including hauling himself higher with the aid of the belt looped around Dean's jeans. His feet constantly scrabbled, trying to find the smallest purchase to offer Dean some relief from the enormous strain having Sam's body weight hanging off him was causing. Dangling from Dean's shoulders, Sam's longer arms were finally able to bring him within reach of the stem Dean was clinging to. Sam latched one hand around it and, with his other hand, he grabbed onto one of the twisted root sections, at last able to relieve Dean from the arduous task of being Sam's ladder. Dean gasped and began to inhale and exhale deeply.

"Bro...You...Gotta...Loose weight."

Lying on his front, now hanging next to Dean, Sam turned his head to look at his brother.

"S'muscle. Weighs more'n fat."

**-oOo-**


	34. Chapter 34

**C34**

-oOo-

Having both dragged themselves and crawled on hands and knees, the pair reached a less steep area where the ground felt firmer. Sitting getting their breath back, the brothers stared at the spot where they had last seen Merrick rolling off downhill like a runaway log. It was getting harder to see any great distance as darkness descended and, not knowing how well sounds carried across the valley, neither of them dared take the risk of calling Merrick's name.

"Do you think he's ok?"

Sam's tone sounded as worried as Dean felt.

"Let's hope. I guess the sooner we get down there, sooner we find out. You about ready to go for a slide?"

Sam nodded and held his hand out to Dean. Dean stared at the hand momentarily, then sighed and took hold of it.

"There's _so_ much about this job that never gets spoken about outside this damn place, you hear me?"

"I hear you. This' purely about safety."

"Damn straight...On three."

-o-

Coming round, Merrick ached from head to toe. The ride down had been brutal, stomach churning, rattling every bone in his body and bouncing him over and over, like a pair of dice thoroughly shaken up in a dice-cup then thrown, hard. He had no idea how far he had tumbled down the hillside, or where he had finally come to a stop. Right at that moment, he didn't care, he just wanted to stay wherever he was, with his eyes still closed, and enjoy the sensation of not moving. Something tickled his cheek, moving on down to his mouth, across his lips and onto the other cheek, heading down to his neck. Merrick painfully lifted one arm and slapped himself on the neck, feeling whatever bug had just toddled over his face squash stickily under his palm. The movement had resulted in a number of scratches over the bare skin of his forearm as small sharp needle like things raked and scored his flesh. Merrick figured maybe he should open his eyes after all, take a look at his surroundings and then, assuming all his limbs were still functioning, decide what to do next.

-o-

He was surprised to find how much darker it had become, made more so by the low slung canopy of numerous twigs, downward curving branches and different shaped leaves that he discovered he was lying beneath. Twisting his head he realised that his back was up against the broad base of an ancient tree trunk, around which grew densely leaf covered tree suckers which were, in part, responsible for the cover above and around him. The remainder being provided by a stand of saplings and tall curly leafed fern like undergrowth. About to try sitting up, Merrick was startled into immobility by the sound of gruff voiced shouting out from somewhere uncomfortably close by, so close that he had a moment of panic when he mistakenly thought the commands were aimed at himself.

-o-

Sam knew of an early version of the bicycle that used to be nick-named the bone shaker. He seriously doubted that riding the bone shaker could hold a candle to what he and Dean were being put through as they slid, bounced and skidded, like tobogganists who'd forgotten their toboggan, down the scarily steep sloping hill, grimly holding on to one another's hand so as to stay together whilst using their free hands to exert some control and to avoid careering downwards in a sort of bizarre ground level free fall. Between the darkness all around them and their focus on trying to control their descent, neither brother saw the movements within a small copse of ancient pine, or noticed the four archers, bows raised and the two black armoured fighters, until one of the fighters barked out commands to them, unaware of how difficult it might be for the Hunters to comply.

"_You there_! **_Halt_**! ... Halt and _surrender _yourselves in the name of... (_The commander took a deep breath_) ...the _Supreme Leader of Oz Beyond Anyone_!"

Not for the first time, the commander wished his master, the Magenta Mage, had chosen a snappier and more fear inducing title for himself. he himself had always rather liked the sound of _His Majestic Magenta_, or alternatively, _The Mage Supreme_. But no, the Supreme Leader of etcetera was the title he, to his embarrassment, was stuck having to call out.

-o-

The totally unexpected shout from further down the hill, combined with the sudden flare of a couple of burning torches, surprised both Hunters.

"_Shit_! We're not gonna stop in time Dean!"

"Nope."

Helpless to comply with the command even if they wanted to, their momentum carried the brothers right past the waiting group, their leader still shouting at the pair to halt. Both Sam and Dean recognised the brief glimpse of metal armour glinting in the light of the torches, and the silhouette of archers with bows drawn ready to shoot. Dean immediately released Sam's hand.

"_Flatten and separate_!"

-o-

Sam laid flat, throwing himself over onto his stomach and away from Dean. He heard the command of _Archer's...Loose at will_ being called as he slid helplessly downhill, his clothes riding up, tearing and tangling around his chest, his hands wildly flailing and scrabbling to try to grab onto something with which to stop his rapid descent. It seemed like an age before Sam came to a shockingly sudden full stop, with a painful jolt to his back and shoulder that made him cry out, when with one grasping hand he caught hold of an irregular shaped rock that was, luckily for him, the top of a much larger rock that had spent decades sunk deep into the ground. From somewhere up above, Sam heard an order given to _Find them both. Go. _Sam stayed as quiet as possible whilst clinging on to the small portion of rock, desperately praying it didn't dislodge. He was very aware that he could feel solid ground beneath him down as far as his waist, his hips and legs however dangled over a ledge of somekind, hanging in mid air with no way for Sam to know how far he would fall if the rock came loose.

The primary thought in Sam's head was whether Dean had managed to end up somewhere safer than he himself had. The sharp jagged edges of the rock had sliced into Sam's palm when he ground to a halt, and now both his hand and the rock his life depended on, were quickly becoming slick with blood. Sam stared hypnotically, watching his own fingers gradually begin to slide further over the rock, taking him dangerously close to slipping off completely, and he knew there wasn't a damn thing he could do stop his inevitable fall.

**-oOo-**


	35. Chapter 35

**C35**

-oOo-

All it took was a casual wave of his hand and a muttered two word command to throw the two women back into their seats. Another quickly murmured few words and they were fixed to them as effectively as if they had been held to the chairs by numerous chains. The Mage turned to the watching Munchkins.

"Leave us. You may go to the kitchen and ask for some scraps to take to your people down below. Off you go now...And remember my act of generosity to those who follow my orders."

Dorothy's eyes burned with hate as she watched the group hurry out of the room.

"Let them go why don't you? You've got me, you don't _need_ them. At the very least, you could release their families."

The Mage sat himself down in a comfortable looking fireside chair and steepled his fingers, gazing thoughtfully into the fire's multi coloured flames for a while. Charlie was growing more irritated by the second.

"Oi! Dingbat! The lady asked you a question, at least have the decency to answer her!"

The Mage's calm appearance didn't alter, but Dorothy noticed the small movement of his lips behind his hands.

"Charlie? Don't..."

Charlie squeaked, she screwed her eyes tightly closed and her head dropped forward to her chest and she began to whimper quietly.

Dorothy panicked.

"Stop! What are you doing? Stop it! _Please_?"

-o-

Merrick heard one of the voices saying _Look Sir. There they are_, followed by an instruction to knock arrows just before two burning torches sprang to life. He needed to move, and fast. One of the group began hollering and Merrick shifted, using the shouting to hide the sounds of his own movements as, keeping himself flat to the ground, he began heading further down the sloping ground, unseen by the soldiers who maintained their focus on Dean and Sam, remaining ignorant of Merrick's presence. The soldiers had been sent out after two men, and there were two men currently sliding crazily on their butts towards them. Still moving, Merrick heard Sam curse and caught a split second glimpse of the Hunters bypassing the armed group, heard Dean call out to Sam to separate, heard the voice of the one that Merrick assumed to be the commanding officer giving the order, _Archers...Loose at will_. Merrick cursed under his breath.

-o-

Sam had been the closest of the brothers to Merrick as both the Hunters whizzed by without seeing him. Letting gravity assist, Merrick aimed himself head first in the younger brother's rough direction, a pained cry not too far below helping him to pinpoint Sam. Further up the hillside, the soldiers began to search for the two men wanted by the Magenta Mage. Closing in on Sam, Merrick could hear Sam panting, breathing heavily and muttering in a low voice. It sounded like a desperate prayer, and Sam himself sounded afraid. Part butt shuffling, part sliding and part standing to scrabble sideways on, Merrick finally spotted Sam in the soft moonlight, and his heart missed a beat. Sam looked panic stricken and was staring in horror at his hand. Merrick looked, and saw Sam's grip slip further; he went for broke.

-o-

Sam finally lost his grip on the only thing stopping him from sliding off into a freefall drop of possibly just a few inches, or of such great distance that it would kill him. For a long half second it seemed as if Sam had managed to find his perfect balance point, allowing him to choose what happened next. Would he drag himself upwards and away from the edge of who knew what? Or would he take a chance and allow himself to drop off the edge, hoping to fall no more than a few feet. It was half a second of hope, then the weight of Sam's lower half, already hanging in midair, began to drag the rest of him back, over the precipice.

-o-

"_Gochou!_ Climb. Quick."

The strain on Merrick stopped normal speech. He could only hope that the over tall collection of muscle he had swinging from one hand whilst his own body weight acted as an anchor to stop the heavy load from disappearing over the ledge, had heard and understood.

-o-

Sam felt a strong hand clamp itself around his wrist and heard a strained voice urging him to climb. Sam climbed. Digging the fingers of his free hand into the ground the Hunter fought to haul and pull himself inch by inch back to relative safety and next to where Merrick was stretched out, horizontal to the hillside's near vertical sides. Sam stuck one foot against the bloodstained, above ground portion of rock that he had been hanging from and, once safely wedged, he flopped on to his back, exhausted and shaken. Raising his head, he peered down at the ledge and it's scary drop into the black unknown.

"Too freakin' close, _waaay_ too freakin' close!"

"_Definitely_. No time to rest yet Sam my friend. We have to find your brother before those men up there do."

-o-

Hidden in the undergrowth, Sam's blood ran cold at the sight of his brother being dragged along, suspended between two of the archers. Dean's head hung down and there was no sign of him putting up a fight as the men holding onto him met up with their companions.

-o-

The leader put a hand under Dean's chin. Raising Dean's head, the man gazed at the semi-conscious Hunter. Letting Dean's head drop again, he turned to look at his men.

"We'll take this one back with us and tell the Mage the other one went over the ledge. Anyone not in agreement with that?"

With no argument from the others, the second in command tugged at his gourgette and nodded at the four archers, satisfied they would go along with his commander's suggestion.

"Anyway lads, it's more 'n likely true. The other one probably _did_ drop off further down. We'll come back out at first light, have ourselves a bit of a stroll. See if we can spot the corpse. Are we all in?"

"Sirs, yessirs!"

Managing to more or less stay upright courtesy of the archer on either side of him hooking an arm under both of his, Dean struggled to look up. Vaguely lifting one of his arms, he gave a sloppy half salute.

"C'rry on chapsesess, over n' out."

The captain casually back handed Dean, the sectioned plates of his metal gauntlet scraping together as it made contact with the side of Dean's face. Dean slumped and his escorts found themselves now supporting his full weight. The group's leader glared down at the prisoner hung between his men.

"If he says anything when he comes round, you've got my permission to shut him up again...Come on, lets get him back to the castle and delivered, then we can go grab ourselves a beer."

The second grinned.

"Sounds like a plan to me, Sir."

-o-

Merrick had an arm across Sam's back, reminding the younger man to stay still and silent, the tension he could feel in Sam's muscles telling Merrick just how hard it was for Sam not to simply launch himself at the group of men who had his brother. They watched whilst the group begin to cut diagonally across the hill, walking without too much difficulty, until they disappeared around what seemed to be a curve in the hillside. Merrick frowned, staring at the spot where they went out of sight.

"How are they managing to walk up and down without falling or slipping?"

From where he lay with his forehead to the ground, Sam mumbled _Spikes_.

"Spikes?"

Sam raised his head, he looked tired and on edge.

"I think they had spikes under their boots that dig into the ground, giving them some grip. We've got to follow them Merrick, and get inside that freakin' castle somehow."

Merrick nodded and began to get to his feet.

"At least it seems we now have an advantage."

"What's that?"

Merrick's smile was humourless as he offered a hand to Sam whilst the younger man checked the stability of the ground before grasping Merrick's hand in his and beginning to rise.

"They don't know about me. As far as they're concerned, there was just the two of you, and it would seem they have decided that you are dead."

Sam didn't share Merrick's glass half full approach.

"According to Charlie's note, they shouldn't have known that anyone at _all_ was on their way here...Unless...?"

"Unless what?"

Stood upright, Sam shook his head.

"All I can think is that Charlie's note was somehow intercepted, and altered."

With a look of deep concern, Merrick began to sweep his gaze all around the immediate area.

"Sam?...Where's your squirrel?"

**-oOo-**


	36. Chapter 36

**C36**

-oOo-

The Magenta Mage was sat at a small table cluttered with ancient books and a couple of specimen bottles whose dubious contents floated in a pale vinegar coloured liquid enjoying his evening meal when there was a knock at the study door.

"I'm eating!"

There was a second or two of silence, then a voice through the closed door.

"I'm sorry Your Supremeness, but your orders were to bring any prisoners directly to you, sir."

Wiping his mouth on a monogrammed napkin, the Mage stood up. Glancing excitedly across to his hungry audience of three, he beamed.

"My dears...I do believe your friends have arrived!"

Hurrying to the door, he opened it wide finding the Captain, fist raised, about to knock again.

"Captain, please accept my apologies, I had no idea it was your good self. Please, come in, and bring my guests."

The Captain strode through the door with a brief look at the two women and the Munchkin before turning back to the doorway.

"Bring him in men."

-o-

The Mage's eyes were wide in anticipation as he held the door for the Captains men. Charlie watched horrified as two soldiers walked in, dragging Dean between them. Once they were in the study, the Mage poked his head out of the door way and looked around. Pulling his head back into the room, he looked puzzled as he sought out the Captain's eyes.

"Um...I _did_ mention that there were two of them...Didn't I?"

"Indeed you did, Your Supremeness. Unfortunately I have to report an untoward event. I am afraid that the other one, whilst attempting to flee like a dog, fell to his death. I take full responsibility for failing to catch him alive for you sir."

"I see."

The Mage quietly closed the study door and walked over to look at Dean who, by then, was lifting his head and trying to get his bearings.

"And you're certain the other one is dead, are you?"

Charlie, already distressed by the sight of Dean and the state he was in, held her breath whilst she waited for the Captain to answer.

"No one ever survived that particular fall Lord. Me and the lads are going off again at dawn to seek out his remains and bring them here to you sir."

The Mage nodded, ignoring the gasp of shock from Charlie and her automatic denials.

"I see. That's very considerate of you Captain. You men, would you be so kind as to pop this one over on the day bed? Does he require the barber surgeon or the medic would you say Captain?"

The Captain made a show of considering his answer before he nodded.

"With respect, I rather think he might need the medic."

-o-

Dean's voice could only just be heard.

"Don' wan' no 'aircut, douche."

"In which case, could you cover the day bed before your men pop him on to it? Use the cloak that's hung over the back of it."

The captain hurried to do the Mage's bidding whilst his men stoically continued to hold Dean upright. Dean gazed bleary eyed up at the Mage.

"Who you?"

The Mage gave his new guest a hard stare.

"I am the Supreme Leader of Oz Beyond Anyone, I am the Magenta Mage, and _you, _scum, are my prisoner."

Dean looked the Mage up and down frowning, then, to the astonishment of everyone in the room, Dean began to snigger. Charlie wondered briefly whether he had been drugged. She smiled however when the Mage raised his voice angrily. _Even mostly out of it, he manages to rile up the bad guy in less than five minutes._

"What, pray, do you find so funny about your current situation?"

Dean sniggered again before answering.

"You...You slobber!"

Both the soldiers holding Dean had the same thought run through their minds; _would now be a sensible time to let go of the prisoner and back away?_

The Mage stared at the idiot in front of him.

"Explain yourself."

"Suprem Lidder Ofoz Beyon' Anybody, S.L.O.B.A., you _slobber_! Oooo...Hey _look_! S'Charlie! Hey Charlie!"

Charlie gave Dean a weak smile.

"Hey yourself. I think you should stop talking now Deanie. Ok?"

Dean nodded at her seriously.

"K Charlie, I geddit, st..."

Charlie found herself feeling oddly relieved when Dean passed out in mid sentence, at least this way he would keep his mouth shut.

-o-

With his better night vision, Sam took the lead with Merrick staying very close behind him, each ready to respond should the other look like falling. Sam steadily followed the direction in which his brother had been taken. Walking diagonally over the dangerous terrain did seem to make the going a touch easier for both men, though not enough for either of them to relax and stop watching where they put their feet. Rounding the curve which had taken the soldiers and Dean out of sight, Sam was both surprised and happy to see that a path had, at some point in time, been cut into the side of the hill, at last giving them a relatively flat surface to walk on and easing the strain they were both now feeling along their spines.

-o-

Sam and Merrick picked their way slowly along the rough trail in silence, Sam's thoughts being very much with Dean. How he had come to be captured, what state he was in physically, and what the Magenta Mage had got planned for his brother? So deep in thought, Sam almost missed the fact that, whilst the path had become substantially wider, it also petered out a couple of yards ahead. Sam came to a standstill, suddenly enough that Merrick couldn't help bumping into him. Where the path ended, the dizzyingly steep slope, dotted with trees and shrubs clinging to it's sides, dramatically given way to a vertical and almost smooth, rock face, with no obvious way up, down, or around it.

-o-

Merrick looked thunderstruck.

"How...?"

Sam was already staring at the rise of the hill to his side, running his hands over it.

"Help me. There _has_ to be an entrance."

"To what?"

"The inside of the hill."

"You are entirely serious about this?"

"Where else could those men have gone with Dean? Unless you think they simply took a flying leap off the end of the path? Which option seems most likely to you?"

Merrick scrunched his face up as though giving the question some hard thinking.

"How long have I got before I must decide?"

Sam stared at his companion.

"You, Merrick, have spent _way _too much time with my brother! My guess is that there are tunnels underground, probably in different spots all over Oz, linking different places. Remember the White Rabbit?"

"Yes. You seemed to think it belonged in a different world to Oz. But the rabbit didn't come through, he...Came up...Out of..."

"The ground...There. Look, I think we're standing on the entrance!"

**-oOo-**


	37. Chapter 37

**C37**

-oOo-

The Mage rolled his eyes and sighed when another knock drew him away from his meal. Standing, he threw his napkin down onto his plate and picked up a half full glass of wine, pausing before taking a drink.

"Who is it?"

A male voice again sounded through the door.

"The Medic Your Supremeness. May we let her pass?"

Red wine spluttered from the Mage's lips back into the glass.

"_Yes_, yes, you fool. Obviously! Let her in."

Charlie watched as the door opened to admit the medic, her attention drawn to the two guards on door duty where previously there had been none.

"Well? Where's the patient? Eh?"

A very elderly woman squinted up at the Mage, over her shoulder there hung a bulging leather sack, very nearly half her size.

The Mage pointed to the day bed.

"I would appreciate you addressing me by my title Medic."

The woman waved him off in a way that suggested long standing familiarity.

"Too much of a mouthful. What's been happening here? Oh, hello ladies. Would one of you be so kind as to act as my assistant?"

The Mage followed the woman across to Dean. Out of pure pettiness, despite Charlie's pleading look, he beckoned Dorothy over, releasing the spell holding her down in the chair.

-o-

Merrick watched in interest whilst Sam knelt down, probing at an unevenly shaped flat slab of rock partially embedded in the path.

"Clever tactic really, do you not think so Sam? I have no doubt that the majority of people would look to their side, and never consider looking down to see if the entrance lie beneath their feet."

"Yeah, clever...It's not here. However it opens, the mechanism isn't here."

Scanning around, Sam's gaze settled on the rock face. Merrick ran his own gaze over the area, at a loss as to what might constitute a trigger to opening a secret doorway. Sam, however, smiled to himself.

"Merrick, go to the very end of the path ... Now reach out, there's a crack in the rock with a striped pebble that looks to be wedged in it?"

"I see it."

"Just push the pebble inwards."

"Surely not?"

"Try it."

Sam grinned when the slab of rock slid out of sight to reveal a dark hole and a set of stone steps disappearing into the black. He whispered to himself under his breath.

"_Yahtzee_."

-o-

The medic stared down at Dean, noting the scratches and bruising to one side of his face.

"What name does my patient go by then?"

The Mage shrugged.

"I personally know him only as Thief."

"Funny thing to name a child. Right girl, I need his clothing out of the way, just his top half, wouldn't want to excite my old heart too much, eh?"

"Dean...His name's Dean."

The medic turned and smiled at Charlie.

"That's a much better name. On you go then. ... My dear girl! What _are_ you trying to do there? Cut it girl, cut it. Tsk tsk. Here."

Dorothy stared at the sharp little knife the medic handed her, only to see it snatched out of her hand again by the Mage.

"_Please_. Allow me."

The Mage sliced Dean's tee apart and handed the knife back to the medic without a word before gazing haughtily down at Dorothy.

"Carry on."

Dean made no sound as Dorothy struggled to free his clothing from him.

-o-

For the next few minutes, the medic's wrinkled and efficient hands checked over the front of her patient, mentally cataloguing fresh bruises against older ones, noting old scars here and there, drumming her fingers against Dean's ribs and running her hands down his arms and legs before she and Dorothy began to roll the patient over. Charlie strained against the spell holding her to her chair when she heard Dean's groan, Dorothy's _Oh dear_ and the medic's _Ah ha._

"What is it Dorothy? What's wrong?"

The old woman peered closely at her newly volunteered assistant.

"Dorothy is it? Would that be Dorothy Red at all, hmm? My troublesome nephew's bride-to-be? I assume that is _indeed_ you. How lovely! You ill mannered man. Why didn't you introduce me to your betrothed straight away? You _naughty_ boy! You're a very lucky man. She's both very pretty _and_ young enough to have lots of babies for you. I give you both my blessing to marry...Not that you bothered asking for my consent, but I give it anyway...Now then. Our young thief here. Attempted to escape did he? He's been shot in the back. Some cack-handed buffoon of a soldier has yanked out the arrow, made it bleed more. Lucky it wasn't a broadhead, hmmm?"

Busily inspecting her patient's wound at close quarters, the medic didn't notice that the other occupants in the room, all except one bug eyed Munchkin, had become as still as waxwork dummies.

-o-

Standing together on a stone landing at the bottom of a first short flight of steps, Sam flicked on his lighter to look for a way to close the still open slab above the two men's heads. He grinned at Merrick. His Ozanian companion looked like he had entered into a state of hypnosis on each of the very few times he had witness the flame box being activated. Glancing around, there wasn't much for Sam to see, except rocky side walls, rocky ceiling and the start of the main stairway leading down off their rocky platform. What _did _catch his eye was a medievil style hand carried unlit torch. He reached over Merrick's head and unhooked the roughly made torch off the wall, smiling even more broadly when he felt the head of the torch, discovering the rope wick had only burnt down by a third. He quickly set light to the wick, about to flip the lid of his lighter closed, he glanced again at Merrick. Like a cat keeping a curious eye on a moth whilst deciding whether to bother chasing it or not, Merrick's eyes had never left the flickering lighter flame. Sam wondered what would happen if he moved the lighter from front to back over Merrick's head and beyond? Would Merrick, like a puppy, bend so far backwards in order to keep his eye on the flame, that he would suddenly find himself sitting on the floor being told what a good boy he was? Sam shook his head roughly, trying to get his wandering thoughts back in line, and instantly staggered as he suddenly felt very light headed. Merrick put out a hand to steady the younger man.

-o-

"Sam? What is it?"

"Nothin'. M' fine. _Why do I sound like Dean?_ Sorry, just felt a bit dizzy is all. Help me to find the mechanism for closing the slab would you? It should be more obvious than the one above ground."

Merrick took a step sideways and pointed to the metal lever which had been behind him all the while.

"So, something like this then?"

_Why's Merrick__soundin' like Dean now?_ "Yeah. Just like that one."

Sam reached for the leaver, stopping short when the dizzy sensation hit again and he noticed somewhere along the way, he had also developed a headache.

"Please, allow me. I think you should sit for a moment Sam."

-o-

Grinlaff was way out of his depth. He wondered whether, if he asked ever so politely, the Magenta Mage would lock him back up in the tower again? Despite the magic holding him to the chair, Grinlaff still managed to bounce an inch up off his cushion in shock when the few seconds of silence and stillness was shattered by Dorothy's ear splitting screech of **_Whaaaat_**?

-o-

Dorothy was beside herself, beyond anger, beyond rage, she was in that place where even mage murder wouldn't be enough to satisfy her.

"_You've told this woman that I'm goin' to_...to..._Crap_! I can't even bring myself to _say_ it. _You've_ told _her_ that I'm goin' to..._Thingy_ you? I would _never_ thingy you. I'd never thingy _any_ man. But I'm _especially _not, never in a world over run with Unicorns, never ever, _ever_, thingying **_you_**!"

The medic turned briefly to look at the Mage, one eyebrow arched high. The Mage grimaced and shrugged.

"She er, she suffers terribly from pre-wedding nerves."

"So I see."

-o-

A stirring from her patient turned the medic's attention back to Dean.

"Hello there, back with us then? No! don't roll over. You have a wound on your back that I need to take care of."

"Wassat damnawful noise?"

"Lover's tiff. Ignore them. It's the easiest way."

It was actually hard to ignore the heated three way slanging match that was in full flow, so instead Dean listened in, focusing his attention onto it and taking his mind off the woman's ministrations. It didn't take him long to realise that one of the voices was Charlie's.

"_You lay one scanky paw on her,__** pal**__, you're gonna be the first Eunuch in Oz; an' __**I'll**__ be the one doin' the honours!"_

Dean winced, both at Charlie's threat and at the first of the medic's stitches. That tugging on his skin though was instantly forgotten in the wake of a deep and powerful male voice.

"**_Enough_**! _Guards_!

The dramatic change to the Mage's usual fairly softly spoken, and irritatingly pleasant tone startled the two women into a momentary silence as the two guards promptly entered the study. The Mage swept his hand through the air, identifying the women and the terror stricken Munchkin.

"Take them all, and throw them down in the dungeons with the rest."

-o-

The guards strode across the room as the three prisoners felt a weight lift off them when the spell holding them in place lifted away. Charlie jumped to her feet, instantly looked around in a frantic search for any kind of weapon. One of the guards appeared right in front of her, disrupting her search. Looking down at her he smiled, shaking his head at her whilst drawing her attention to the slender and extremely sharp looking sword in his hand.

"Get them out of my sight."

The Mage watched the women being escorted out of the room, a miserable Grinlaff shuffling after them. Once again wearing his pleasant smile, the Mage gazed at Dorothy as she passed by.

"No more special treatment for a while. Maybe you should take this as an opportunity to slim down in readiness for your dress fitting Dorothy, my dear?"

"Why you..._you_..."

The study door closed on Dorothy's response.

-o-

"Now then, Auntie. How are we getting on over here? Oh, very neat! Well done...Hello again, um, _Dean_. I was _so_ sorry to hear of your loss. Appalling tragedy...Might I offer you some refreshments?"

**-oOo-**


	38. Chapter 38

**C38**

-oOo-

Merrick pushed the lever upwards, and the slab of rock above the pair slid back into it's closed position. Next, he went to sit by Sam's side and opened up his kit bag.

"Now, let me see. Here, have some water, it's a while since you last had any fluids. It might be just what you need, you could be suffering from too much sun and the effects of dehydration."

Sam accepted the water carrier off Merrick and nodded.

"That _would_ explain how I'm feeling. Thanks...You know, when all this is over? Dean and me will owe you a lot Merrick. I want you to know that. I'm really glad you decided to come after us. And that you hung around to help out..."

Merrick raised a hand, signalling Sam to stop speaking.

"Sam. Drink. Then together we will find your brother and your friend."

-o-

The temperature down in the tunnel was chill and constant, both men feeling it keenly. The flame of their torch burned steady, with no breeze to make it flicker or dance. And the tunnel itself showed little variation in the colour and texture of the walls, floor and ceiling as they followed it along in silence, alert to anything to suggest that the two of them might not be alone down there in the cold and grey.

-o-

The medic helped Dean to sit up on the day bed. Dean held his breath, refusing to allow any sound to leave his lips as he felt the impact of every bruise, every bump, each aching muscle and the jolts of hot spiking reminders of having been hit by an arrow. Once sat upright, his hands curled around the edge of the day bed, he let himself breath again and glared up at the man he assumed to be the Magenta Mage.

"What appalling tragedy is it that I'm supposed to have suffered?"

Dean was ready not to believe whatever the Mage said, until he saw the brief smirk and the flash of something like enjoyment in the Mage's eyes at Dean's enquiry, before it was quickly hidden again behind a look of affected sympathy.

"You don't remember? Ah. Let me help you with that. The other one, he who undertook your misguided journey alongside you? Surely you must recall?...He fell to his death. My men will be going out again at first light in an attempt to recover the body."

Dean couldn't hide his physical reaction to the shock of hearing the Mage casually "reminding" him that Sam was dead. Dean had no doubts that the Mage _knew_ that he hadn't been aware, hadn't seen, _wasn't there,_ _couldn't help, didn't know, didn't know, didn't know, no, no_ ...

-o-

With so many actions and reactions vying for Dean's favour, at first it was as though someone had pulled the plug on him. The Mage felt his anticipation deflate. He'd seen the younger man physically flinch as though his news had been carried on an iron fist, but the outburst of sorrow, fury, denial, anything at _all_, simply didn't happen. The Mage couldn't understand it.

"I must say dear boy, I am surprised at how calmly you have taken the news. You _do_ understand what I have told you, don't you? Hmmm? Your companion is dead ... Is there really nothing you have to say on the matter? Nothing at all?"

When Dean finally raised his head again to look at the man standing in front of him, it was with eyes that held nothing but cold hate. The Mage instinctively backed away. Dean's voice carried no emotion.

"I guess nobody's ever told you that dead men don't speak."

The Mage glanced at the medic as she carefully stood up, then he turned back to Dean.

"What? I'm sorry, I don't under...

"You don't speak."

In a heartbeat Dean had surged upright and forwards, his weight driving the Mage to the floor with Dean on top of him, giving the Mage no chance to recover before starting to rain down a flurry of punches, blow after powerful blow smashing into the stunned face of the Mage, drawing blood from the first hit, tearing open the man's lower lip and dislocating his jaw as the Mage attempted to form the words to a spell.

"You...Are..._Dead_!"

Plummeting towards darkness, the last thing the Mage heard was the calm sound of the medic's voice.

-o-

The tunnel began to lead Sam and Merrick in a long, sweeping curve. Sam noted that the side walls were now dark with damp in places. He looked up when something tapped him lightly on the top of his head. As he tilted his head back, he felt two further light taps on one cheek, and a forth, directly on his eyelid. Sam drew Merrick's attention to the persistently dripping water.

"I'm guessing we're underneath the river."

Merrick looked up nervously.

"Thank you for pointing that out to me. I don't suppose you have any objection to me going a little faster?"

-o-

Dean was only half aware that the medic was saying something, recognising far too late what she was doing. The pain ripped through him, feeling like every single muscle in his body was cramping, taking his breath away and stealing his voice, denying him the ability to scream as he fell away from the Mage and curled up into a tight ball. The veins in his neck stood proud, his fingers curled and clawed, the muscles in his arms contracted, his back felt like it was being twisted and coiled, his teeth gritted together and his chest felt as if it were being squeezed and crushed inward by a white hot band of metal. As suddenly as it began, the pain stopped and released his body from it's grasp, leaving Dean gasping for breath and lying trembling on the floor next to the unconscious Mage. He felt the medic's breath on his cheek as she knelt alongside him and leaned down closer. Before his eyes closed he heard her whisper by his ear.

"That, my dear boy, was quite a silly thing to do."

**-oOo-**


	39. Chapter 39

**C39**

-oOo-

"I assume you have a plan in mind ready for when we reach the end of this damned tunnel?"

Merrick thought he saw a flash of guilt mixed with embarrassment in Sam's eyes. Telling himself it must have been his imagination, Merrick tried again.

"So, are you able to tell me what your plan _is_ and what you require me to do?...Sam?...There _is_ a plan...Isn't there?"

Sam gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure I'll think of something in time. Look, up ahead, the tunnel turns."

Sam hurried off towards the turning point, leaving Merrick staring after him in horror. _We don't have a plan. No plan at all. How in the name of all Oz can there be no plan?_

Sam pulled up short just before the turn. Looking back at Merrick, Sam put a finger to his mouth warning Merrick to move quietly, then beckoning him on to join him. Sam was already concentrating, seemingly listening out for something when Merrick reached him. Both men stood side by side in silence, Merrick putting all his energies in to straining to hear something. He was about to give up when Sam jolted Merrick's arm and shot him a questioning look. At last Merrick recognised the low sound which he had assumed was the sound of the river flowing above them. Voices. Too quiet to make out any actual words, the sound was more like a distant mumbling noise. It sounded as if there were a number of people, all speaking at once.

-o-

But Yours Missesses...Hows does we's get's outs when youssses is in 'ere wivusus? Yousus 'as to be onsus t'outsidesses 'fore yousus cans undo locksus. S'ow it worksesses. Insidesus we's locked insuss, if'n yousess outsidsus, yousus gets to _unlocksus. _See? suss_?_

Dorothy shook her head, wishing it had been another of the agitated Munchkin women or children she was having to speak to. After a while, Nanniwon always began to sound very much like a swarm of buzzing flies. Dorothy suddenly had an idea of how she might be able to answer the concern Nanniwon had raised.

"Listen Nanniwon,...Listen _everyone_! Have any of you had something that was turned inside-out?"

Dorothy was surprised when no one jumped up and down, keen to confess, no one excitedly shouted out their answer, no one even whispered it quietly. Dorothy lifted her eyes to Heaven, silently praying for patience.

"You are not going to get into trouble if you _have_ had something turn inside- out, I promise."

-o-

The gaggle of Munchkins erupted, all trying to relate their inside-out stories at the same time. Charlie grimaced at the noise, her tolerance levels at near breaking point. She jumped up from the hard stone floor she had been sitting on and raised _both_ arms in the air. Instantly re-directing the Munchkin's attention onto herself.

"_Silence_! Dorothy has more words to say. Will you all just _pipe down_?"

Charlie's whole body instantly slumped.

"Oh crap..._Crappity_ crap! Why the _Hell _did I say that?"

Those few Munchkins who had pipes with them made a great show of placing them carefully on the floor, leaving their fellow Munchkins unable to comply and, instead, quietly staring around fretfully at one another. Charlie shrugged; the silence was welcome. She smiled apologetically across at Dorothy, leaving her to deal whilst Charlie turned and dropped back down to her spot on the floor, losing herself once more in her grief and her awful self blame at the loss of Sam.

-o-

Along with rising awareness came one name repeating itself over and over like a chant, _Sammy_. Dean's lips parted and the name moving through his mind translated into a moaned cry that alerted the medic to Dean's awakening state.

"Open your eyes."

Dean responded to the tone of command and did as he was ordered, finding himself looking up at the medic's face. The idle thought that she looked different somehow drifted through Dean's mind, but he immediatly lost interest in it. He really didn't care how she looked. She was just one obstacle that needed moving out of his way so that he could kill the Mage, find Charlie, and get the Hell out of Oz...In that order.

-o-

Sam sported a wide grin on his face as he raised the flickering torch higher and gazed at the steep flight of carved stone steps disappearing up into darkness above. Alongside him, Merrick looked a little less happy.

"How far up do you suppose they go?"

"My guess? Right up inside the hill and to the castle grounds, or maybe even to the castle itself."

Merrick nodded sadly.

"That's what I thought. Many, many, _so_ many steps then."

"That's right. So let's get climbing."

"Any sign of a plan yet?"

"Workin' on it."

"Oh."

-o-

The medic and Dean stared at each other in silence, the quiet eventually broken by the medic.

"I have to admit, you are a very good looking young man. Whilst my nephew might not be as attractive as you to the ladies, he does have his good points. Obviously, it's actually very hard to see them at present, thanks to you. I should warn you, he is more than a little upset by the disfigurement you caused, all-be-it temporary. He _had_ hoped to appear more pleasing to the eye for his bride."

Whilst the medic talked, Dean was curling his toes inside his boots, he was casually shifting thumbs, flexing fingers, twisting wrists, testing his ability to raise his knee off the day bed a fraction, breaking eye contact with the woman by turning his head as if he could no longer look at her, coughing and raising his head as though it were purely a reflex action. It seemed that the Mage's aunt had not curtailed his movements. The medic had just spoken of the Mage's ruined hopes for his wedding when Dean smiled up at her. She assumed the smile was a response to Dean hearing of the upset that his earlier actions had caused for her nephew. She realised her mistake when Dean's forehead unexpectedly made solid and painful contact with her own, causing her to bite down painfully on her tongue, drawing blood which dripped over her bottom lip, onto her chin, and made it's scarlet way down the length of her neck.

-o-

The force of the impact knocked the medic sideways, causing her eyes to fill with tears which then meant her vision blurred. She cupped both hands under her chin and gave a long wail. Dean rolled off the daybed, ignoring the mass demonstration against the plan being held by his body, to land on all fours like a cat. Switching from cat to sprinter, he was up and haring to the table for his sword, grabbing the hilt without slowing and re-routing to the study door, which swung open and slammed into him. The swollen face of the Mage appeared around the edge of the door, curiously looking to see what he had hit.

"Oops?"

From the floor, Dean groaned and tried to raise his sword, dazed and battered, it felt like he was attempting to use a Claymore single handedly.

"G'rout miway Quasimi'do, r'else."

The sword hit the floor with a clatter as Dean's grip on staying conscious gave way.

**-oOo-**


End file.
